Methods: In this pilot study, 15 edentulous patients have been provided with complete dentures. The first concept (canine guided or bilateral balanced) was randomly selected. After 3 months the concept was changed using a cross-over design and the dentures were provided the patients for another 3 months. The investigation focused on oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) using the German version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) with 49 items before prosthodontic treatment (T0), 3 months after providing the new complete dentures (T1), and 3 months after changing the occlusal concept (T2). The differences in OHIP sum scores between T0 and T1 represent the effect of the new dentures in general, while differences between T1 and T2 represent the effect of the occlusal concepts. Differences in OHIP sum scores between different occasions have been tested for statistical significance applying paired t-tests.
Results: Before prosthodontic treatment (T0) OHRQoL of the edentulous patients was markedly impaired with an OHIP sum score of 38.2 points. After providing new dentures (T1) OHRQoL was improved, indicated by a decrease in the OHIP sum score of 5.0 points. The effect of the occlusal concept (T1 – T2) was 0.4 OHIP points. The difference in OHIP sum score between concepts was neither clinical important nor statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: In this pilot study, changing the occlusal concept of the complete dentures had virtually no effect on OHRQoL.
This study is granted by Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Saeckingen, Germany.