Abstract
In Order to find out the present level of care for dentures and the oral cavity as well as patient's awareness of the need for this care, we surveyed by questionnaire 96 denture wearers who visited our hospital. Further, we videotaped the patients who gave as permission as they actually cleaned their dentures.
The upper complete dentures of 10 subjects using denture brushes and those of 10 subjects using toothbrushes were coated with stain, which revealed the amount of plaque remaining on these dentures.
1. Results from the questionnaires
(1) Most subjects were satisfied with their dentures because they were able to chew, but dissatisfied with them because of pain. Some subjects were dissatisfied with dentures because they tended to be dirty and were difficult to take good care of.
(2) 52% of all subjects answered that they had be given instruction of handling dentures, but few sugjects remembered the details of the instructions.
(3) All subjects answered that they cleaned their dentures, while 95% of partial denture wearers and 73% of complete denture wearers cleaned their oral tissues as well.
(4) 89% of the subjects knew about denture cleansers, 44% knew about mouthwash, 35% knew about denture brushes and 18% knew about denture cleaning paste. For each item more than half of the subjects who knew about it actually used the specific item.
(5) 68% of the subjects knew about denture adhesives, but only 15% used them.
2. Findings from the video tapes revealed that very few subjects were cleaning their dentures with the tap water running.
3. There remained more plaque on the mucosal surface than on the polished surface of all parts of the upper complete dentures of the subjects using either denture brushes or toothbrushes. Incisive papilla regions, especially were hardly cleaned. Further, there was generally less plaque on the dentures of the subjects using denture brushes.
