 This patient is a 39-year-old man who has worn his first denture for seven years. It was made to function with lower natural teeth and a lower partial denture. As a result of this prolonged usage of the full denture in occlusion with a lower dentition, abnormal stresses have developed, resulting in excessive resorption of the alveolus anteriorly in the maxillary ridge. The soft tissues have become hypertrophied and flabby as a result of the ill-fitting denture and chronic irritation. He has not worn his denture for a week at this time and the inflammation which existed when he was first seen has subsided to a considerable degree. Although a few prosthodontists prefer to save this tissue and take impressions over it, the majority favor a less mobile foundation for the denture. A much firmer and more resilient denture-bearing surface can be provided by surgical methods in many of these cases. In this case, enough ridge remains so that ridge extension is not necessary. Simple excision of the hypertrophied flabby mass will suffice to provide a firm ridge. An elliptical excision of excessive tissue is arbitrarily carried out. This excess tissue is removed in one section. It is detached from the alveolus with a small, sharp number 2 curret. Closure of the wound is by interrupted suture. Four weeks of healing without wearing a denture results in a well-contoured firm ridge devoid of mobile flabby tissue. Ridge height or sulcus depth is satisfactory. This ridge is now almost ideal as a foundation for bearing a denture.