An ingenious technique for functional palatal reservoir construction in complete dentures

Abstract

The retention, stability and comfort of wearing denture is greatly influenced by the flow, quantity and consistency of saliva. Insufficient salivary output results especially in old-aged edentulous patients may result in denture sores because of lack of lubrication by saliva, thus, reducing patient’s ability to retain the prosthesis. Various approaches have been concernes with the use of reservoir with holes have been described in the literature. However the flow of salivary substitute is very difficult to control. Moreover the frequent cleaning of the denture required to maintain the patency of the reservoir holes poses various challenges to the patient. This article explains a novel technique for the incorporation of a reservoir with controlled salivary flow in complete denture to enhance the retention of the prosthesis and thus, improving the comfort of wearing denture and the speech of patient.