CHAPTER 6 4.

Have a surface which is

dense to avoid harboring of
DENTURE BASES oral fluids and
microorganisms.
5. Be capable of adapting
accurately to the master cast.
DEFINITION
6. Be capable of being adjusted,
finished and polished with
A denture base is that part of a
instruments available in the
denture which rests on the foundation areas
dental office.
and to which teeth are attached.1
7. Be abrasion resistant.
8. Be capable of being cleaned
FUNCTIONS
by usual oral hygiene
techniques and materials.
The functions of denture bases are
to:
9. Be of low initial cost and
inexpensively repaired and
1. Attach the prosthetic teeth to
relined/rebased.
the RPD.
10. Be capable of being repaired
2. Transfer occlusal forces to
and relined/rebased by
the abutment teeth and, in
customary dental techniques.
tooth-tissue supported RPDs,
11. Be a good thermal conductor.
to the denture foundation
12. Have a low specific gravity
area.
for maxillary RPDs and a
3. Replace the missing alveolar
specific gravity similar, to or
tissue in bulk and
slightly greater than, the
appearance.
tissues it is replacing for
4. To provide bracing, retention,
mandibular RPDs.
and in tooth-tissue supported
13. Have resilience and impact
RPDs direct- indirect
strength sufficient to permit
retention.
the use of a thin base.
14. Chemically bond to
DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS
prosthetic tooth materials and
RPD alloys.
Classic lists of requisites for the
15. Be strong enough to resist the
"ideal" denture base appear in McCracken's2
stresses which will be applied
and Applegate's3 textbooks. These
to it.
requirements reworded, expanded and
16. Be capable of being colored
slightly modified are:
to match the various mucosa
colors and retain this color
1. Be dimensional stable during
with time, use, and cleansing.
fabrication, use, repair and
17. Not soften or warp in hot
reline/rebase.
water or other cleansing
2. Be chemically inert or at lest
solutions.
compatible with the oral
tissues.
There is no denture base material
3. Not have a taste or odor and
which meets all of these requirements.
should not pick up a taste or
However, the currently used denture base
odor from oral fluids.
6-1
 materials (metal and plastic) are very 2. Tooth supported edentulous
satisfactory. space where bone resorption
is expected.
TYPES
ADVANTAGES:
There are two types of RPD denture
bases: (1) metal, and (2) plastic. 1. Very rigid.
2. High thermal conductivity.
THE METAL DENTURE BASE Thermal conductivity may be
decreased if plastic is
The metal denture base (Fig. 6-1) has processed onto the metal
metal in contact with the edentulous ridge. base.
Prosthetic teeth are attached to the metal 3. Very stable form.
base with a plastic base or by cementation to 4. High abrasion resistance.
a retentive post. 5. Less porous than plastic and
therefore easier to clean.

Prosthetic DISADVANTAGES:
Tooth
Major
Connector 1. More difficult to adjust tissue
surface than a plastic base.
Plastic
2. More difficult to reline the
Metal metal tissue surface.
3. Metal not esthetic.

THE PLASTIC DENTURE BASE

Fig. 6-1. A metal denture base
The plastic denture base (Fig. 6-2)
INDICATIONS:
has plastic in contact with the edentulous
ridge. It is used more frequently than the
1. A tooth supported edentulous
metal base.
space where further bone Metal Denture
resorption is not anticipated. Base Retention
2. When a facing, tube tooth, Minor
metal pontic, or metal Connector
reinforced denture tooth is to
be used.
3. A tooth-tissue supported
edentulous space when the Plastic
"floating denture base"
concept is being used.

CONTRAINDICATIONS:
Fig. 6-2. A plastic denture base
1. Tooth-tissue supported
edentulous space.

6-2
INDICATIONS: improved resistance to
abrasion and fracture.
1. Tooth-tissue supported
edentulous spaces. REFERENCES
2. Tooth supported edentulous 1. The glossary of prosthetic terms. 6th
spaces where bone resorption ed. St. Louis, C V Mosby, 1994.
will necessitate a
reline/rebase. 2. Henderson D, McGivney G P,
3. Where considerable missing Castleberry D J. McCracken's
alveolar tissue must be removable partial prosthodontics.
replaced. 7th ed. St. Louis, C V Mosby
4. Where esthetics is a primary 1985:131.
concern.
3. Applegate O C. Essentials of
CONTRAINDICATIONS: removable partial denture prosthesis.
2nd ed. Philadelphia, W B
1. Single tooth edentulous Saunders, 1960:140.
spaces.
2. Where protrusive or lateral
occlusal guidance will be on
the prosthetic teeth.

ADVANTAGES:

1. Can be easily relined.

2. Easy to fabricate, adjust,
finish and polish, and repair.
3. Plastic is more esthetic than
metal.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. More porous than metal and

therefore more difficult to
clean.
2. Requires more bulk for
rigidity than metal.
3. Easily abraded.
4. Easily fractured.
5. Plastic is a poor thermal
conductor.
Has the potential to be
dimensionally unstable.
Note: The high impact plastic
denture base materials such
as Lucitone 199 have
6-3