Conventional rehabilitation of edentulous patients: the impact on oral health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined patient satisfaction and oral health-related impacts on the quality of life of patients restored with complete conventional or duplicate dentures.

Materials and methods: Forty patients (aged 55 to 85 years) were assigned to receive new complete maxillary and mandibular dentures using either a conventional or duplication technique according to clinical need. Patients rated their satisfaction with their dentures on 100-mm visual analogue scales before treatment and 1 month after delivery of their new dentures. Their oral health-related quality of life was determined by completion of an Oral Health-Related Impacts on Quality of Life questionnaire (OHIP-20) at the same time points.

Results: Both groups of patients had similar satisfaction and OHIP ratings at the beginning of the study and 1 month after delivery of their new dentures. The two groups were comparable with regard to age and gender. Statistically significant improvement in the OHIP domains of functional limitation and physical and psychological disability was seen in both groups. The conventional group also showed significant improvement with regard to handicap, whereas the duplicate denture group showed significant improvement in the patients' rating of pain and psychological discomfort. Patient satisfaction improved significantly in both groups across all variables except ease of cleaning and ability to speak. The duplication technique resulted in patients being less satisfied with the esthetics of their new dentures.

Conclusion: In this study, the provision of new dentures either with a conventional technique or with a duplication technique resulted in an overall improvement in oral health-related quality of life and satisfaction. These improvements were statistically significant for some domains, which varied depending on the technique used for construction of the new dentures. Neither technique was seen to be superior, which may be a reflection of the patients' treatment expectations at the outset. Patients' reported satisfaction with their dentures and the impact that dentures have on their quality of life may not be useful measures for determining the most appropriate technique for providing new dentures.