Effects of prosthetic dental intervention for denture wearers on masticatory function and quality of life

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the condition of masticatory function and quality of life before and after prosthetic treatment on denture wearers. Twelve denture wearers（mean age 69.9±9.8 years）were recruited in this study. They visited Kyushu Dental University Hospital and wanted to fabricate new dentures. The survey items at the first visit were twelve items of age, gender, number of remaining teeth, occlusal support（Eichnerʼs classification）, missing teeth（classification of occlusal triangle by Miyaji）, condition of existing denture, wearing period of current denture, Barthel Index, medical history, medicine in use, DMF index and intraoral prosthetic condition. Condition of masticatory function（maximum occlusal force by using Dental Prescale® and Occluzer®, chewing ability by measurement of glucose elution volume, masticatory ability score by using 25-item food intake questionnaire method）and condition of QOL（Physical Component Score（PCS）and Mental Component Score（MCS）from 12-Item Short Form Health Survey（SF-12）, Profile of Mood States（POMS）, Mini Nutritional Assessment（MNA）, Japanese version of 14-Items Oral Health Impact Profile（OHIP-J14）, General Oral Health Assessment Index（GOHAI））were evaluated before and after prosthetic dental intervention. As the results, the maximum occlusal force and mastication score significantly increased with prosthetic dental intervention. Mental, mood and emotion tended to be good. Both OHIP-J 14 and GOHAI significantly improved. In conclusion, prosthetic dental intervention was suggested to be beneficial for improving condition of masticatory function and oral QOL of denture wearers, but significant improvement of general QOL was not observed during the study period.