Determination of vertical dimension in prosthodontic rehabilitation of a growing patient with severe oligodontia

This report describes the oral rehabilitation of a young boy with severe oligodontia of primary dentition and complete anodontia of permanent dentition, treated by complete maxillary and partial mandibular removable dentures. Since the determination of a proper occlusal vertical dimension in paediatric patients is often difficult, treatment was achieved by means of a multidisciplinary approach involving conventional prosthodontic principles combined with cephalometric analysis and growth prediction. After a follow-up of two years a second lateral cephalogram was taken to evaluate the developmental changes in craniofacial morphology and the superimpositions method was performed, showing an improvement of both sagittal and vertical relationship between basal bones. In this case, the early prosthetic treatment resulted in enhanced aesthetics and masticatory function as well as skeletal growth changes.