Methods: 102 subjects who had experienced tooth loss were interviewed and presented with 19 different scenarios of mouths with missing teeth. Each written description was accompanied by a verbal explanation and digital pictures of mouth models. Participants were asked to indicate on a standardised visual analogue scale how they would value the health of their mouth if they had lost the tooth/teeth described and the resulting space was left unrestored. A utility value of 0.0 represented the “worst” possible health state for a mouth and 1.0 represented the “best”.
Results: The mouth with the upper central incisor missing attracted a low utility value (utility = 0.16), the one with a missing upper second molar and the missing lower second molar attracted the highest utility values (utility = 0.48, 0.47 respectively). With respect to shortened dental arch (SDA) scenarios, a mouth with a SDA with only the second molar teeth in all quadrants missing, attracted the highest utility value (utility = 0.45). A mouth with an extreme SDA with both missing molar and premolar teeth attracted the lowest utility value (utility = 0.06). The disutility of having a missing incisor, canine, premolar or first molar was greater for women than for men (p<0.05) and although there was a trend for missing teeth to have a greater negative effect in younger people, this was not statistically significant except for incisors and premolars.
Conclusions: It is feasible and possible to derive measurements of the impact of various degrees of tooth loss on individuals. Age and gender both have a significant influence on how the dentition is valued.