In some situations the application of the conventional prosthetic restorations is limited It can be related to medical, clinical and/or financial limitations, fear of treatment, or a combination of these factors. Therefore, there is a constant need to offer the dentists and their patients a system that would be a simple and predictable solution to the problem of the denture retention.

It is also striking how many patients ask about implants even though they can function well with their dentures. Many of them, when asked whether they would like to have the same denture but without a palate, would give a positive answer. This could also be extended to the question about retention and stability, chewing efficiency and comfort or aesthetics. Such  small changes made in a simple and non-expensive manner would certainly please all patients wearing dentures.
Muchor is such a system. It is easy, predictable and gives a clinician the possibility when extra retention and stabilization is needed. The system can also be used in partial denture applications for aesthetic reasons -  Muchor anchors are fixated in the base of the denture replacing the metal clasps.

It can be defined as a retention attachment-like system, designed to be fixed in the denture to increase its fixation and stabilization. It consists of ceramic (zircon oxide), is more or less elliptical in cross-section, and has elements that act as intramucosal anchors.

RESEARCH STUDY OF SAO PAOLO

Dentures have been the most common therapy for treating patients for decades. They bring back the patients smile, improve phonetics and mastication function, but they are far from restoring the natural retention. One of the most important patients’ complaints is the lack of the dentures retention, which can create very embarrassing social situations, also becoming a psychological problem given the personal insecurity. Eating and relationship restrictions are also highlighted as limitations by the denture users.

More recently, the international scientific community presented the features and clinical results from the use of the dental implants for the treatment of the total or partial edentulous arches by means of fixed or removable prosthetic constructions. The objective was to try to recover the patient’s natural detention or achieve the nearest possible results concerning function and aesthetics. New of bone grafting techniques combined with dental implants make a total reconstruction of the mandible and maxilla possible, from damage to the bone, teeth loss, trauma, infections or cancer.

Nevertheless, the implant indications are also limited. Systemic (diseases), local (insufficient remaining bone) patient’s desire and financial aspects have lead professionals to find another possibility for increasing denture retention and stability with minor surgical procedures, safely and at a reasonable cost.

In 2008 a four-year clinical and histological study, dome at the University City of Sao Paolo, Brazil, was presented in Holland. It concerned a simple technique that increases denture retention with a limited intervention on the oral mucosa.
The denture is modified, receiving in its inferior zirconium inserts with an elliptical shape in cross section

"It is striking how many patients ask about implants even though they can function well with their dentures. Most of them, if asked whether they would like to have the same denture but without a palate, would give a positive answer."

The sites to be prepared in the mucosa, using a special drill on low speed and water cooling, correspond to the location of the inserts in the denture. A surgical guide prepared prior to the surgery drives the punctual local anesthesia and mucosa preparation.

After the surgery, the denture (now with the zirconium inserts in it) is placed in the mouth, fitting normally. The space for the inserts on the mucosa was created previously by the surgical procedure. The patient cannot remove the denture for 48 hours after surgery, letting the tissue repair around the inserts, and after that, taking only for cleaning.

The basic concept is the mucosa regeneration that heals smoothly around each insert within 15 days after a surgical mucosal preparation, creating, after the complete healing process, a male/female attachment, where the mucosa site is the female part, and the insert the male.

This mucosal attachment highly increases the denture retention and stability.
The biocompatibility and physical properties of the zirconium seems to be the main reason for the current clinical and histological results. The cells can grow really fast covering the entire insert surface, demonstrating what occurs in the patients’ mouth during the healing process.

The histological results have never shown any inflammatory process on the mucosa around the inserts. More important than the technique description and the clinical success was the report showing that all the patients treated on the study were satisfied with the denture retention and stability. Since then, there was no reported evidence of dysplastic changes in the epithelium around the intramucosal inserts in international literature.