Miraculous advancements in dentistry have been made since the inception of organized and intentional dental therapeutic intervention. Most recently, the advent and clinical refinement of dental implant therapy using root-form endosseous implants1 is an example of one such advancement that has revolutionized the profession’s approach to prosthetic replacement of missing teeth. Additional revolutionary advancements ride on the heels of the ever-progressive digital world, making once cumbersome procedures (eg, radiology, treatment planning, impression making, prosthetic design, and prosthesis fabrication) more readily available, and in some cases, more accurate and precise. In fact, advances in the modern dental world are occurring at such rapid rates that the challenge for practicing dentists is to keep up with the latest materials, devices, and procedures, as well as the evidence basis for their clinical implementation.
Despite the remarkable advances impacting so many facets of modern dentistry, pockets of routine treatment seem to have remained relatively stagnant over time. For many practitioners, the routine provision of complete denture therapy includes procedures that seem to have escaped the progress of modern dentistry.
