- Medical History: General health, medications, neuromuscular conditions, allergies, etc.
- Dental History: Duration of edentulism, reasons for tooth loss, extraction history, age and history of current dentures.
- Extra-oral Examination: Facial morphology, lymph nodes, skeletal base relationship, lips, and TMJ activity.
- Intra-oral Examination: Assessment of alveolar ridges, oral mucosa, denture bearing areas, posterior palatal seal, palate shape, sulcus depth, frena, inter-ridge space, ridge relation, saliva, tongue, and any abnormalities.
- Radiographic Examination (if indicated): To check for unerupted teeth, retained roots, bone quantity, and TMJ.
- Review of Existing Prostheses: Assessing OVD, stability, retention, peripheral extension, occlusion, aesthetics, and phonetics.
- Patient Communication: Identifying chief complaints and understanding the patient’s difficulties and expectations, being wary of a patient with many ‘unsatisfactory’ dentures.