Oral health related quality of life of complete denture patients treated by UG students - A university hospital based study

Abstract

Oral health status of the elderly people is booming as a wide interest in dentistry. Complete dentures are the most common treatment for rehabilitation of total loss of teeth. Denture replacing the teeth helps in patients mastication, communication and aesthetics. This study aims to assess the oral health quality of patients wearing complete denture treated by undergraduate students. A questionnaire was prepared to assess the oral health-related quality of life among 107 complete denture patients who were treated by undergraduate students at Saveetha Dental College, Chennai. The questionnaire was administered to 107 respondents via telephonic conversation. The complete denture patient list was obtained by reviewing and analysing 86,000 patients record who visited the Saveetha Dental College during the time period of June 2019 to March 2020. Based on the data collected from the questionnaire, the results were tabulated and statistically analysed via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). In this study, it was observed that the complete denture patients on the whole experienced positive outcomes with 73.8% patients with no allergy, 36.4% with no difficulty in phonetics, 45.7% reported occasional difficulties in mastication and 46.7% reported occasional food sticking to the denture. In this study, it is observed that the complete denture patients treated by the under-graduate students, on the whole, were satisfied with their dentures.