The patient's and the therapist's evaluation of complete denture therapy.

A total of 222 patients were studied. In a questionnaire patients graded their complete dentures of different age and quality, depending on the level of satisfaction, using the modified analogue-visual scale from 1 to 5. The dentist assessed the same dentures, as well as the denture bearing area. The patients' assessments were surprisingly high, the grades were bigger than the therapist's (p < 0.05), but in disappointed patients the grades were smaller than the therapist's (p < 0.05). It seems that the dentist is more critical in assessments than the patient. No significant difference existed between chewing and denture stability and between stability and the comfort of wearing lower full denture (p > 0.05). Unstable denture aggravates chewing and causes pain and discomfort on the bearing area. It seems that subjective factors in patients, expectations of the denture or the number of previous dentures play a role in satisfaction, not only the quality of denture bearing area and the quality of a denture.