Patient satisfaction with complete dentures fabricated using two neutral zone techniques: a within-subject cross-over pilot study.

Several studies have compared complete dentures fabricated using conventional and neutral zone (NZ) techniques. However, studies comparing patient satisfaction with complete dentures fabricated using swallowing and phonetic NZ techniques are lacking in literature. To compare patient satisfaction with the complete dentures fabricated using the two NZ techniques. To compare the bucco-lingual dimensions of the NZ records obtained with these techniques. Ten completely edentulous subjects dissatisfied with their existing mandibular complete dentures participated in the study. Five subjects first received the swallowing neutral zone (SNZ) dentures and five the phonetic neutral zone (PNZ) dentures. Tissue conditioner was used as the recording material in both the techniques. After having worn the prosthesis for a minimum of 2 months, subjects responded to a questionnaire that measured their perceptions of various factors associated with the prosthesis. The prostheses were then changed and the procedures repeated. Student t test and non-parametric Mann-Whitney tests were used for statistical analysis. Level of statistical significance was set p < 0.05. There was no statistical significant difference in patient satisfaction with the SNZ and PNZ complete dentures for all the variables assessed. Statistical significant difference was observed for majority of the variables when the two NZ dentures were compared with patients' old dentures. The difference in the mean dimensions of the two NZ records was also found to be statistically insignificant except in the maxillary left premolar region. The study indicated that patient satisfaction with the complete dentures fabricated using SNZ technique did not significantly differ from that of the PNZ technique. Data gathered at the final appointment showed that SNZ dentures were preferred by the patients with regards to esthetics, stability, comfort and ability to chew. For ability to speak, mixed preferences were found.