Purpose: To determine the average time it takes for patients to adapt to mandibular complete dentures and the factors associated with this critical period.
Materials and methods: A total of 108 completely edentulous patients were rehabilitated using complete dentures. Adaptation was evaluated based on the following criteria: mastication, comfort, speech, and swallowing with dentures. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to estimate the average time to adaptation. Log-rank test was used to assess the adaptation period and associated factors.
Results: Of the 108 rehabilitated patients, 89 had adapted to mandibular complete dentures at the 6-month follow-up. The mean time to adaptation estimated from the Kaplan-Meier curve was 78.54 days (95% CI: 71.04 to 86.04). The factors associated with the adaptation period were previous experience with a mandibular denture (P = .032), the professional who made the previous complete dentures (P = .034), frequency of appearance of traumatic lesions after 15 days of rehabilitation (P = .023), posterior mandibular ridge height (P = .005), and regular use of the new dentures (P = .002).
Conclusion: Most patients adapted to mandibular dentures after 2.6 months. No prior mandibular denture experience, use of old dentures made by a dental technician, occurrence of traumatic injuries 15 days after complete denture delivery, presence of a resorbed posterior mandibular ridge, and nonregular wear were associated with longer adaptation time to the new mandibular complete dentures.
