The Neutral zone technique revisited

Neutral zone

Abstract

          The success of a complete denture is an interplay of many factors. The diminution of denture foundation is critical for mandibular ridges pertaining to less surface area. Neutral zone techniques have long been employed to address the cases of severe residual ridge resorption in an attempt to achieve adequate denture stability. Accurate registration of neutral zone is essential for optimum denture stability as teeth arrangement in such cases is dictated by the complex as well as individual actions of oral musculature. Accurate neutral zone registration requires that the denture base remains stable in the patient's mouth when the patient is asked to do various functional movements involving the tongue, lips, cheeks, etc. Through this case report, we would like to address this problem by introducing a modification to the commonly followed neutral zone techniques which facilitates accurate myodynamic registration as well as recording the tentative centric jaw relation in a single step.