COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE RETENTION OF MAXILLARY DENTURE IN MICROSTOMIA PATIENTS FABRICATED USING SECTIONAL TRAY WITH PIN AND SLEEVE ATTACHMENT WITH THAT OF A CONVENTIONAL SECTIONAL TRAY DESIGN: IN VIVO STUDY

Background and Aims: Taking an impression from patients of limited mouth opening has been a great clinical challenge. In this regard, studies on sectional trays are very few. The aim of this study was to evaluate & compare the clinical efficiency of impressions using an easily designable sectional tray to that of cumbersome design of conventional sectional tray. Materials and Methods: Two customized sectional trays - one with the pin and sleeve attachment which is easy to make & the other one with acrylic bar and stud attachment which is conventional & difficult to fabricate. Twenty dentures, ten from each sectional tray were fabricated for each of the 10 patients having limited mouth opening. The effectiveness of the impression record was compared based on the retention of the final maxillary denture which was measured using a digital force gauge. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software and independent t-test was applied. Results: There was no significant effect on the retention of the completed maxillary denture retention fabricated using two different two designs of sectional trays. Conclusion: Pin and sleeve sectional tray can be used with equal clinical efficacy as the other conventional designs of sectional trays.