Increased tolerance to complete dentures after surgical modification of mylohyoid ridges

Of 521 patients referred to a specialist prosthodontic practice for complete dentures, 274 were considered as candidates for simple surgery to smooth prominent mylohyoid ridges before denture construction. Of these, 183 were thus treated. The remaining 91 did not receive surgery because of personal preference, underlying medical conditions, or other reasons. The percent who required three or more postinsertion visits to achieve comfort with their dentures was 7% for those who received surgery, 27% for those who required but did not receive surgery, and 17% for those not deemed to require surgery. This suggests that the surgical smoothing of prominent mylohyoid ridges may markedly improve patients' tolerance of dentures in the short term. However, the potential for confounding from extraneous factors in these nonexperimental circumstances must be considered.