The provision of satisfactory complete dentures requires that dentist, technician, and patient adequately fulfill thei respective roles in the provision of, and adaptation to, these dentures. The clinician should combine clinical skills and appropriate patient management, in addition to an appreciation of postextraction resorptive changes in the alveolar ridges, if clinically acceptable dentures are to be prescribed. An increasing number of replacement dentures are being prescribed for older patients; thus, the need to utilize functional factors to determine tooth placement is reviewed.