Overdentures and overlay dentures in therapy of patients in the developmental age – review of the literature

Abstract

Prosthetic treatment of edentulous children or those with residual dentition requires a long-term and highly complex rehabilitation. To ensure proper course of treatment, the knowledge of facial skeleton development and growth is essential. Early rehabilitation is aimed at restoring malformed tissues and providing proper growth and functioning of the stomatognatic system. The applied restorations cannot interfere with bone growth and should be replaced at given time intervals. Throughout the therapy cooperation of a prosthetician with an orthodontist, oral surgeon, periodontologist, and paedodontist is needed. Such treatment is fundamental in the psycho-social formation of young patients as it results in a significant improvement in their quality of life. The aim of the paper was to present, basing on the literature, modern methods of prosthetic rehabilitation of developmental age patients with morpho-functional disorders of the stomatognatic system, using removable overdentures and overlay dentures. These restorations are of temporary character in children and are used to stimulate growth of the system in a way which would provide best conditions, after the development is completed, for the application of fixed restorations supported on patient’s own teeth or on implants.