A patient with a complete denture should be told that masticatory efficiency is approximately what percentage of that of a person with a natural dentition?

Correct answer: D. 30%

• A. 10% understates it; even a poorly retained complete denture generally performs better than this.
• B. 60% is closer to what a well-made implant-retained overdenture can deliver, not a conventional complete denture.
• C. 90% approaches natural dentition and is not achievable with a conventional complete denture.
• D. Correct. Complete denture wearers achieve roughly 20–30% of natural dentition chewing efficiency, and generate biting forces around one quarter to one fifth of natural teeth. Patients need this expectation set BEFORE treatment. A related figure worth remembering: complete denture wearers need roughly 4–5 times as many chewing strokes to reduce food to the same particle size.