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Case Report
Palatoglossal arch injury caused by denture clasps in an older adult with dementia
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
2 Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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Takuma Watanabe
54 Kawahara-cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507,
Japan
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Article ID: 101503Z01TW2025
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Watanabe T, Mishima S, Hirota M. Palatoglossal arch injury caused by denture clasps in an older adult with dementia. Int J Case Rep Images 2025;16(1):80–84.ABSTRACT
Introduction: Older adults frequently use dentures, and patients with dementia can have difficulty manipulating dentures. Removable partial dentures frequently have sharp clasps which can cause severe complications.
Case Report: A woman in her 80s with Alzheimer’s disease was referred to our department with the chief complaint of inability to remove a maxillary partial denture. Intraoral examination revealed that the denture clasps had penetrated the right palatoglossal arch mucosa and were tightly fixed. By gently detaching the piercing clasps from the mucosa, the partial denture was retrieved.
Conclusion: Older adults with dementia and their caregivers should be regularly educated about denture accidents. If a denture causes oral mucosa injury, an oral surgeon may treat it in the Emergency Room. Knowledge of oral anatomy is essential for safe denture removal.
Keywords: Dementia, Denture clasp, Palatoglossal arch
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Author Contributions
Takuma Watanabe - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Sayaka Mishima - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Makoto Hirota - Conception of the work, Design of the work, Acquisition of data, Drafting the work, Revising the work critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published, Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2025 Takuma Watanabe et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
