Evaluation of the Edentulous Patient

Abstract

There are various reasons behind the failure of prosthetic treatment of the edentulous patient. The primary reason could be ascribed to the insufficient initial assessment and a treatment plan inconvenient for the clinic. The evaluation of the edentulous patient is performed by taking the patient’s medical history, evaluating the existing denture, and examining the intraoral and extraoral structures, using special examination methods. Clinical examination is evaluated in two parts, as intraoral and extraoral examination. The extraoral examination should be evaluated in seven sections as general appearance and evaluation of the face, lips, cheeks, temporomandibular joint, jaw movements, and the tonus of the muscles. The intraoral examination should be evaluated in 12 sections as the examination of the alveolar ridges, relations of the ridges, the shape of the hard and soft palate, muscle and frenal attachments, vestibular sulcus, sublingual areas, tongue, and saliva and evaluation of the hard tissues and mucosa. This chapter provides information regarding the intraoral and extraoral evaluation of the treatment of the edentulous patients.