Prevalencia de mucosa queratinizada en pacientes edéntulos parciales y totales de la Clínica de Odontología de la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil.

Abstract

Introduction: Alterations in the oral mucosa generate conditions such as vasoconstriction or xerostomia, causing profound biological changes such as decreased keratinization, atrophy of the epithelium with changes in elasticity, or hyperkeratosis, which directly affects short- and long-term rehabilitation treatment. Faced with this condition, edentulous spaces in the dental arches can be observed with the absence of keratinized mucosa (KM) and can be prone to inflammation and chronic bleeding. Objective: To determine the prevalence of (KM) in totally and partially edentulous patients at the Dental Clinic of the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil. Materials and methods: The following investigation is of a descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional type, of an experimental clinical type. This work had the approval of the Directorate of the Dentistry Career of the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil and was carried out in 60 patients with their respective clinical histories. (HC). The following study variables were considered: gender, type of edentulism, age range, time of use of the prosthesis, time of edentulism and parafunctional habits. Results: According to what was analyzed, the male gender is the one that presented the highest amount of KM with 40% of KM, as well as young patients with an age range of 18 to 40 years old who showed more amount of KM with 31% of KM, patients with removable prostheses are the ones who were able to preserve the most of the KM in the mouth with 40% of KM in the mouth. In the variable time of edentulism, our data show that the longer the time of edentulism, the greater the absence of KM with 21% of elderly patients. Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, we can conclude that there is a higher prevalence of KM in young partial edentulous patients who used correctly adapted dental prostheses without parafunctional habits. There are few studies in the literature associating KM and edentulism, for which we recommend more studies that allow us to direct pre-surgical protocols to guarantee longevity in rehabilitation treatments.