An evaluation of soft tissue responses following removal of ill-fitting dentures.

An investigation was conducted on the changes in the thickness of the soft tissues after ill-fitting dentures had been left out of the mouths of 14 subjects for 72 hours. Periapical radiographs were made before and after resting the soft tissues, and the thickness of the soft tissues was measured on the radiographs. A comparison of these measurements showed an average increase of 0.136 mm in thickness of the soft tissues before and after leaving the dentures out of the mouth.