CORRELATION BETWEEN EPULIS FISSURATUM FORMATION AND NOCTURNAL WEAR IN CONVENTIONAL COMPLETE DENTURE WEARERS

Objective: Determine the correlation between formation of epulisfissuratum and nocturnal wear of dentures, in conventional complete denture wearers, in patients reporting to Prosthodontics department. Methodology: Patients wearing complete dentures for more than 6months, having age between 50 - 70years. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical variable like age, gender, nocturnal wear, length of denture use, epulisfissuratum and location. Epulisfissuratum and location was stratified with the nocturnal wear of the denture, to see the effect modification. Post stratification was done using chi-square test keeping P <0.05 as a significant level. Results: There was a significant correlation noted between Epulis formation and nocturnal wear (P-value 0.001). 83 patients wearing complete denture, 76 (91.6%) had no epulisfissuratum and 7 (8.4%) presented with epulisfissuratum. The location of epulisfissuratum, 4 (4.8%) were found in the anterior region and 3 (3.6%) were found in the posterior region. Nocturnal wear was negative 59(71.1%) and 24(28.9%) was found positive among them. A significant correlation was noted P value0.002 between location and nocturnal wear. Conclusion: Epulisfissuratum is not a common manifestation in denture wearers. If present, it is most commonly reported in the anterior maxilla and there is a strong association between epulis formation and nocturnal wear/ length of denture use.