The development of a method for functional assessment of dentures

Abstract

Aims: To design and validate a method of assessing complete dentures from a functional standpoint.

Subjects: A random sample of 40 complete denture wearers took part in the study.

Setting: A university clinical department of prosthetic dentistry.

Intervention: We undertook a pilot study to refine the protocol and criteria. All participants and their dentures were examined by two authors independently, with no prior knowledge of the patients' complaints.

Design: We defined nine clinical factors of functional quality and applied criteria with binary scoring. We analysed the scores for these factors for inter-rater reliability.

Results: The method proved simple to apply and took less than 5 minutes to complete. The inter-examiner agreement for all factors was 86% to 100% giving Kappa scores of 0.64 to 1.00 (all Good or Very Good).

Conclusions: This study successfully demonstrates that the technique, which we call the Functional Assessment of Dentures (FAD), can give good inter-examiner reliability. It can therefore be used separately as a routine diagnostic tool and to investigate the relationship between denture qualities and functional 'outcome' such as difficulty eating or dietary selection.