LAUSR

BACKGROUND Residual ridge resorption impairs patients' satisfaction with complete denture (CD) treatment, but influence of bone resorption on the esthetic rehabilitation of edentulous patients still remains unclear due to insufficient quantitative investigations. OBJECTIVES To quantitatively evaluate the effects of residual ridge resorption on facial esthetic reconstruction in elderly edentulous patients. METHODS According to radiological examination, a total of 19 edentulous subjects were categorized into two groups, atrophic patients (APs) and non-atrophic patients (NAPs). Before CD treatment and three months after treatment, patients were asked to complete the Orofacial Esthetic Scale (OES). The changes in facial appearance were measured by 3D stereophotogrammetry, and the facial parameters of two groups were compared. RESULTS The patient's subjective satisfaction of orofacial esthetics and 3D objective assessment of facial appearance improved after CD treatment. Subnasale-gnathion (Sn-Gn) significantly increased from 60.13±3.91 mm to 62.27±3.82 mm. After rehabilitation, glabella-subnasale (G-Sn)/Sn-Gn, nasolabial (Cm-Sn-Ls), and mentolabial (Li-Sm-Pg) significantly decreased and were closer to normal values, Moreover, the subtraction value between G-Sn/Sn-Gn and normal value before treatment of APs and NAPs was 14.47±8.04% and 6.94±3.69%, respectively (P=0.026), while after treatment, the values decreased to 10.61±6.33% and 3.86±2.31% (P=0.013), respectively. CONCLUSION The increased volume of lips and cheeks played an important role in the facial esthetic reconstruction of edentulous patients. NAPs tended to have more attractive faces after CD treatment, as their facial profile parameters (G-Sn/Sn-Gn and Cm-Sn-Ls) were closer to normal Chinese with well-balanced faces.