ABSTRACT
Bite force suffers changes throughout life, with a physiological decline during aging, due to the loss of muscle mass and teeth. Rehabilitation with removable dentures (RD) allows restoration of the masticatory performance. The current work aims to assess i) the bite force before and after oral rehabilitation with various types of RD, and ii) whether the bite force of treated patients is similar to that observed in a reference group (Gref). The sample consisted of 37 patients rehabilitated with RD: flexible partial RD (PRDflex; n=18), conventional PRD (PRDconv; n=17) and complete denture (CD; n=2). The Gref (n=40) was composed of dentate young adults. The bite force, measured with a gnathodynamometer, was recorded bilaterally with molars in occlusal contact. Statistical analysis was conducted with the GraphPad Prism® software. The bite force increased after oral rehabilitation regardless of the type of denture used, although not reaching the optimal values of the Gref.
