ORAL HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AND PATIENT SATISFACTION TO THE PROSTHODONTICS TREATMENT AT FACULTY OF DENTISTRY, CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) before and after prosthodontic treatment, and to assess the patient satisfaction to prosthodontic treatment among patients after obtaining prosthodontic treatments at Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University. Six hundred and sixty four participants (467 subjects from Under-graduated; UG clinic and 197 subjects from Post-graduated; PG clinic) with 18-84 years of age with an average age of 53.9±13.4 years, of which 45.5% of them were male were face-to-face interviewed at Prosthodontics Clinic, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University. Data comprised of general information, medical and dental history. For the assessment of OHRQoL, this study used the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) which were assessed at three different periods; the first dental visit (T0), first recheck visit (T1) and completed visit (T2). The 100-mm VAS horizontal line was used for assessing satisfaction at T1. Descriptive analysis was performed. The OIDP scores at T0 and VAS scores at T1 were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U Test and the Kruskal-Wallis Test. The Friedman Test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test were used to analyze the OIDP scores between periods of assessment. Statistical significance was set at α = .05. The OIDP scores (mean/median) in UG participants at T0, T1, and T2 were 23.9/15.0, 10.3/5.0, and 0.1/0, respectively whereas those in PG participants were 22.7/15.0, 6.5/5.0, and 0.2/0, respectively. In addition, the OIDP scores were significant different between periods of assessment (p < .05). At T0, those participants reported physical performances especially on eating and speaking with the main symptom were functional limitation due to the tooth loss. At T1, 71.3% of the UG and 40.6% of the PG participants had oral impact on eating due to pain or discomfort of denture. Meanwhile, at T2 there was very slightly oral impact. The VAS scores (mean/median) in UG and PG participants were 88.9/90.0, and 92.0/95.0, respectively. This study indicated that for those who had both profession, and perceived need for prosthodontic treatments had the improvement in all performances of OHRQoL with high level of satisfaction after obtaining the treatment.