The Effects of Increasing Occlusal Vertical Dimension among Edentulous Jordanian Patients

Increasing the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion is usually done using removable dentures or an implant fixed prosthesis in edentulous patients. There is no consensus between researchers whether these potential negative consequences of increasing the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion. Most of the previous studies on Vertical Dimension of Occlusion were conducted on dentulous subjects in developed countries. This study aims to assess the effects of increasing Vertical Dimension of Occlusion on edentulous patients in the dental clinics at the Royal Medical Services of Jordan. Fifty patients between the age of 41 and 82 years participated in this cross-sectional study. Seven out of ten participants complained of temporomandibular joint pain, soreness under complete removable dentures was reported by 80.0 % of the participants and difficulty in speech was noticed in 64.0 % of the participants. Although increasing the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion is a common functional and aesthetic prosthetic dental procedure, it is still associated with frequent side effects after one-month follow-up. Informing the patients about the possibility of these side effects would help them make an informed decision before increasing their Vertical Dimension of Occlusion. Future research is needed to examine the long-term effects of increasing the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion in edentulous patients.