Posterior palatal seal

DR MUAIYED BUZAYAN
Dr. Muaiyed. Mahmoud. Buzayan,
BDS
MClinDent Malaysia
AF AAMP USA
Posterior Palatal Seal area
It is defined as a soft tissue along the junction of the hard
and soft palates on which pressure within the physiologic
limits of the tissues can be applied by a denture to aid in the
retention of the denture.

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 Posterior Palatal Seal (in the denture)

The seal area at the posterior border of a maxillary removable dental

prosthesis
It is a slight elevation at the posterior border of the maxillary denture
PPS area of the upper denture is the area that should be placed on non-
movable tissues of the soft palate just behind the hard palate.
The posterior palatal seal is formed through both hamular notches &
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across the palate over the vibrating line.
 Functions of Post-palatal seal:
1. Compensates for polymerization shrinkage away from palate
2. Enhances the retention. The main function of PPS is to
maintain contact with the anterior portion of the soft palate (the
tissue undergo shallow displacement) during functional
movement of the somatognathic system (that is mastication,

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deglutination & phonation) therefore the main purpose of PPS is
the retention of maxillary denture
3. It also reduces food accumulation beneath the posterior
aspect of denture owing to proper utilization of tissue
compressibility.
4. It also reduces gag reflex as there is no separation between denture
base & soft palate during normal functional movement
5. Inconspicuous with the tongue: Reduce patient discomfort contact
occur between dorsum of the tongue & posterior end of denture base

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Posterior palatal seal requirement:
1- Lies on easily displaced tissue
2- Should be in continuous contact with soft palate in the rest
and function

ANATOMIC & PHYSIOLOGIC CONCIDERATION

The PPS is divided in two anatomic separate boundaries-
1. Post palatal seal

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2. Pterygomaxillary seal
 The post palatal seal is extending from one tuberosity to other.
Pterygomaxillary seal extend through pterygomaxillary notch
continuing for 3-4 mm anterolaterally approximation the
mucogingival junction.
It also occupies the entire width of pterygomaxillary notch.
This pterygomaxillary notch is covered by pterygomandibular

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fold which extend from the posterior aspect of the tuberosity
posterio-inferiorly to insert into the retromolar pad.
This fold of tissue can influence the posterior border seal
during the mouth wide opening.

 Vibrating line
The imaginary line across the posterior part of the palate
marking the division between the movable & immovable
tissue of the soft palate which can be identified when the
movable tissue are moving.
1. Anterior vibrating line

2. Posterior vibrating line

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Anterior vibrating line
It is an imaginary line lying at the junction between the
immovable tissues over the hard palate & the slightly
movable tissue of the soft palate
Instructing the patient to say AH with short vigorous
bursts
The anterior vibrating line is not a straight line, due to

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the projection of the posterior nasal spine..
Posterior vibrating line
It is an imaginary line at the junction of the aponeurosis
of tensor vili palatini muscles in the muscular portion of
the soft palate. It separates the movable and the
immovable portions of the soft palate.
It represents demarcation between the part of soft
palate that has limited or shallow movement during
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function (quivers) & the remainder of the soft palate
that is markedly displaced during functional movement.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOFT PALATE (House
classification)
It is classified in-
CLASS I
It indicates soft palate that is rather horizontal or as
an extension posteriorly with minimum muscular
activity. The separation between anterior and
posterior vibrating line does having wide PPS area
yielding more retentive denture base

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CLASS II
The soft palate that has a medium curvature and
allow for a medium width of the posterior palatal seal
area. Palatal contour lie between class I & class III
CLASS III
It is seen in conjugation with high V shape palatal vault. There is few
millimeters of separation between the anterior and posterior vibrating
lines thus the PPS area would be small and the retention is less.
 Dimensions of the post dam
1- The post dam extends from the hamular notch on one side to the
other hamular notch of the other side. It should be wide enough to
avoid cutting or irritating the soft tissues, but not so wide to
compress too large an area and thus prevent the denture from
sealing properly.
2- The post dam is usually narrow in its central part, wider as it

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extends laterally on each side, and narrow again as it approaches
the hamular notch to fade out behind the tuberosity. It is
sometimes called butterfly (Cupid's bow) post dam
3- The post dam should be about 4-6mm wide in its widest part.
The depth or thickness of the post dam should vary in different
individuals, according to compressibility and softness of the tissue.
Its depth should also vary (0.5 1mm) in different parts of the
same mouth in exactly the same manner as its width. The average
depth is 1mm.
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The post dam can be made at different stages:
1- Impression making: To establish positive contact
posteriorly to prevent the final impression materials from
sliding down the pharynx. And to serve as a guide for
positioning the impression tray, especially if a shim (wax
spacer) has been used within the tray to establish the
borders.

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2- Jaw relation: To stabilize the trial denture base and to
determine if adequate retention & seal of the potential
denture border is present.
3- Finished denture: to gain all the benefit of the
posterior palatal seal. Existing denture may have poor
length and depth of PPS. Properly examine existing
dentures. If there are other problems in the dentures
(vertical dimension, centric, esthetics etc.) then new
dentures are to be made. If only PPS is short then
correction should be undertaken.
Different materials and techniques can be used.

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1) Heat cure material.
2) Self cure acrylic resin.
3) Light cure resin.
 Techniques of post-damming
There are several established for the placement of the posterior
palatal seal:
1- Conventional method
2- Scraping of master cast (arbitrary post-damming)
3- Fluid wax technique
4- Post damming during try-in stage

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PROCEDURE
1- Conventional method

1. The posterior vibrating line. A line is placed with an indelible

pencil, through the pterygomaxillary notch & extended 3-4 mm
antero-laterally the tuberosity approximating the mucogingival
junction (intraorally).
2. The custom tray inserted into the mouth & seated firmly. Upon
removal from the mouth, the indelible lines will be transferred to the
tray. The tray in return to master cast to complete the transfer of the
complete posterior border.

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3. The tray is trimmed to the posterior vibration line so that it
determines the post extent denture border.
4. To get the anterior vibrating line, the soft palate is palpated with the
T burnisher or mouth mirror to determine their compressibility in width
& depth. The termination of glandular tissue usually coincides with the
anterior vibrating line. The anterior vibrating line now marked and
transferred to master cast.
5. The visual outline is in the shape of cupid bow the area between the
anterior posterior vibrating lines is usually narrowest in the mid palatal
region because of the projection of the posterior nasal spine.

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6. Kingsley scraper used to score the cast. The deepest area is located
on either side of midline. It is usually scraped to a depth of
approximately 1-1.5 mm. The tissue covering the medial palatal raphe is
not scrapped (or minimally scraped).
 2Scrapingofmastercast

This technique is the least accurate and leaves the most to chance of tissue
compressibilityoftheinsertionofthedenture.
The anterior and posterior vibrating lines are visualized by examining the
patientandthentheyareapproximatelymarkedonthecast.Thetechnicianwill
scrapthe0.5to1mmdepthofthestoneintheposteriorpalatalsealarea.
This technique is almost as nonphysiologically correct as the technician's

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attempttoplacetheposteriorpalatalsealarbitrarily.
 3- Fluid wax technique
It starts with locating and transfer of anterior and posterior vibrating line similar to
conventional approach. Then with the marks made, final impression is made using
ZOE/impression plaster (not with elastomeric impression material as they are resilient,
non-adherent to wax, and distort wax when reseated into oral cavity).
Impression waxes used to get seal. These waxes have specific characteristics like low-
melting point to permit their use intraorally without discomfort or trauma, high flow rate at
mouth temperature.
The melted wax is painted into the impression surface (within the outline of the proposed
seal area). The impression is carried to the mouth and held in place under gentle pressure
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for 4-6 min and allow time for the material to flow. Take care for head position (30 to
Frankfort Horizontal plane). In this position the soft palate is impression in its most
functionally depressed position.
After 4 min remove the impression tray and trim any
excess (or) if no tissue contact is established then add and
redo the procedure
 4- Post damming during try-in stage
The trial denture base is inserted so the indelible pencil line marked on
vibrating line of the soft palate will be transferred from the soft palate to
the trial denture base. And the excess base plate is reduced to this line.
The trial denture base is placed on the cast and a knife or pencil is used
to mark a line following the posterior limits of the base plate.

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 THANK YOU
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