Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of an Acrylic-Based Resilient Liner on Perceived Chewing Ability in Edentulous Patients Wearing Mandibular Complete Dentures

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an acrylic-based resilient liner (ARL) on perceived chewing ability in patients using mandibular complete dentures compared with that of patients using mandibular complete dentures with a conventional acrylic resin (CAR). Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted at two centers from April 2004 to July 2006. Seventy-four subjects were randomly allocated to either the ARL or CAR group using a random permuted block method after obtaining written informed consent. A valid questionnaire listing 35 foods was used to evaluate the subjects' perceived chewing ability of each item, assessed according to the following scale: 0 = cannot eat, 1 = can eat with difficulty, and 2 = can eat easily. If subjects did not eat the food because they disliked it or had not eaten it since first wearing dentures, they filled in a triangle or square, respectively. These figures were treated as a 0 during analysis. Results: No significant differences were observed between the ARL and CAR groups. The perceived chewing ability of subjects with new complete dentures was significantly higher than that of those with their old complete dentures. The duration of edentulism was positively associated with perceived chewing ability. Conclusions: An ARL applied to mandibular complete dentures has no significant impact on the perceived chewing ability of edentulous patients in comparison to a CAR.