Improvement in Quality of Life of Elderly Edentulous Patients with New Complete Dentures: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate whether treatment with new complete dentures improves quality of life in elderly patients.

Materials and methods: A literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, SciELO, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases using specific keywords for relevant articles published up to March 2018. Three reviewers obtained the data and compared the results from reports that evaluated denture wearers 60 years of age or older whose old dentures were replaced with new ones.

Results and conclusion: Of 282 published studies, 7 met the inclusion criteria (5 evaluated quality of life before and after treatment using the Oral Health Impact Profile, 1 using the Oral Impacts by Daily Performance, and 1 using the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index). The articles showed a similar increase in quality of life after elderly patients were treated with new complete dentures; however, the limited methodologic quality in the reported and analyzed studies underscores the need for more robust controlled investigations to strengthen the current body of evidence, which is limited.