The impact of new complete dentures on oral health-related quality of life.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between complete dentures and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). METHOD: Seventy-six patients were conveniently selected from the waiting list for complete dentures. At the first visit (pre-treatment) the patients were interviewed using the Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous Patients (OHIP-EDENT). Sixty-three of these patients were interviewed telephonically 2 to 3 months after receiving their new complete dentures (post-treatment). RESULTS: Mean domain scores were significantly lower post-treatment for psychological discomfort and disability, social disability and handicap. CONCLUSION: This study shows that after the provision of a new set of complete dentures the OHRQoL of patients improved significantly on four of the seven domains for the first 2 to 3 months post-insertion.