Effect of Prosthodontic Rehabilitation on Perioral Units in Edentulous Patients

Background: Complete edentulous patients experience loss in fundamental mastication functions, the progressive absorption of the alveolar bone, and variation in facial appearance. Complete dentures (CD) fundamentally target edentulous patients and not only increase functionality but also restore the appearance of the face. This study aims to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation with removable CD on perioral wrinkles in complete edentulous patients, in line with growing aesthetic demand. Methods: Patients who had CD rehabilitation performed due to total edentulism were photographed before and after rehabilitation from the same angles to evaluate the perioral soft tissue changes. The photographs were scored using verified ranking scales and through evaluation by two observers. To evaluate the repeatability of the scales, measurements were repeated with the same method one month later. Results: When the effect of prosthetic rehabilitation administered successfully on perioral aesthetics and lip volume was analyzed, a significant improvement was observed in all other parameters evaluated, except for in the labiomental crease. The improvement in the labiomental crease was not statistically significant. In addition, re-measurement reliability was high (≥0.80) for all four perioral units (nasolabial folds, corners of mouth, labiomental crease and upper radial lip). In addition, all correlations were statistically significant (p