Abstract
Japan is considered a super-aged society. Thus, high-quality denture treatment is important to the quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients. During denture adjustment, patients may have to wait in the chair (blank time) while the dentist adjusts and polishes the denture. The purpose of this study was to investigate methods to achieve efficient and high-quality treatment. This investigation was executed in two ways：firstly through an evaluation of treatment content and chair time of denture adjustment, and secondly through an attitude survey of dentists, patients, and treatment assistants. Three groups of subjects were included in this study：edentulous patients with upper and lower complete dentures (n＝31), their dentists (n＝14), and dental assistants (n＝12). The patients provided informed consent to participate in this study. As a first step, the entire treatment procedure was recorded on video. After treatment, each item of the evaluation survey was completed. The time for each treatment step was calculated from the recorded video. The relationship between questionnaire response and blank time was evaluated by independent t-test using SPSS statistical software (PASW Statistics Base 18, IBM, and Tokyo, Japan). The mean chair time was 28.0 (±11.8) min. Patientsʼ blank time was 47% and assistantsʼ blank time was 45%, relative to the chair time. However, the dentistsʼ blank time was only 4% of the chair time. The patients and assistants marked high scores for the questionnaire with no correlation between the blank time or chair time and treatment evaluation. However, the dentists were conscious of the blank time experienced by the patients and assistants, and the questionnaire scores marked by the dentists were lower as the blank time was longer. Dentists and assistants should recognize the importance of patientsʼ and assistantsʼ blank time and utilize this blank time effectively in order to provide more efficient and higher quality treatment.
