Objectives: To determine (a) the levels of satisfaction amongst patients who had received dentures between January and December 2002; (b) the reasons for applying for dentures; (c) the quality of dental services they received; (d) the waiting period between applying for the denture and treatment commencement.
Methods: All fourteen Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities and one hospital in Johannesburg were included in this study. Clinic records were utilised to obtain the contact details of patients who received dentures during the study period. Of 163 patients who received dentures, 83 agreed to participate in this study. All participants responded to a 10-item questionnaire either via post or telephone. Patients were deemed to have been satisfied with their dentures if they obtained a score of >12 out of 18 for the satisfaction index.
Results: There response rate was 70%. Of the respondents (n=83; 58 female, 25 male), 77% (64) were satisfied with their dentures. Almost half (49.4%) of the patients had requested dentures because they were dissatisfied with their previous denture. More than 96% of the patients felt that they were treated kindly by the dental staff. Patients waited for an average of 1.9 months for their application to be approved Satisfaction was significantly associated with the patient’s ability to chew and recall for adjustments (p<0.005). Other factors such as aesthetics, length of use, ability to speak and denture comfort were not significant (p > 0.005) in determining patient satisfaction with dentures.
Conclusion: The majority of denture patients in government clinics are satisfied with their dentures and the quality of care received.