A Case Report of a Complete Removable Denture Designed to Restore Function in a Patient With Severe Resorption of the Mandibular Alveolar Ridge Using the Neutral Zone and Flange Techniques.

Edentulous patients with severe mandibular alveolar ridge resorption struggle with denture stability, which often reduces their quality of life due to mucosal pain and food debris retention. When the inferior alveolar canal is extremely close to the alveolar crest, conventional dentures risk causing severe pain and sensory abnormalities by compressing the inferior alveolar nerve. Thus, conventional fabrication methods face clinical limitations. To stabilize a mandibular complete denture in such cases, it is highly effective to record the dynamics of the denture space and fabricate a prosthesis that harmonizes with these perioral muscle movements. A 77-year-old woman presented with frequent stomatitis caused by ill-fitting dentures and severe masticatory dysfunction. Intraoral and radiographic examinations revealed marked resorption of the mandibular alveolar ridge, placing the inferior alveolar canal in extreme proximity to the alveolar crest. The treatment plan involved fabricating a new maxillary partial denture that strictly balanced the support of the remaining teeth. For the mandible, a complete denture was fabricated using the neutral zone and flange techniques to harmonize with surrounding soft tissue movements. This approach enabled functional contouring by leveraging the dynamic pressure of the perioral muscles. Consequently, denture retention and stability improved dramatically, and denture displacement during speech was successfully suppressed. An evaluation of masticatory function confirmed objective functional recovery. This case demonstrates that for patients with severe alveolar ridge resorption and diminished anatomical supporting tissues, determining the functional form of the denture by accounting for soft-tissue dynamics is highly effective in restoring stability and masticatory function.