Abstract

JUNIOR, Amilcar Chagas Freitas et al. El sistema masticatorio y las alteraciones funcionales consecuentes a la pérdida dentaria. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2008, vol.46, n.3, pp.375-380. ISSN 0001-6365.

Despite of the improvements happened in the general conditions of population health, it's frequent the occurrence of teeth loss with the aging. This phenomenon cause masticatory system disturbance and can be observed in all the elderly organism. By this way, this study realized a literature review about this system, its functions, peculiarities and alterations related to the loss of tooth, emphasizing the importance of prosthetic rehabilitations to restore the functions and the necessary care on treatment planning, installation and prosthesis maintenance in elderly people. In virtue of masticatory system complexity and its related structures, it can be concluded that the reunion of a great data number during the anamnesis, clinical and radiographic examination, and the mounting of diagnostic casts in semi-adjustable articulator are very important for a successful treatment involving elderly people. These treatments may involve a multidisciplinary planning where each involved specialty follow a logic and integrated sequence of execution to reach the desired results.

Keywords : Masticatory system; tooth loss; aging; dental prosthesis.