A method for quantifying overall satisfaction of complete denture patients.

Reproducible and quantitative evaluation of patient satisfaction with their complete dentures is of great importance for preoperative diagnosis, treatment planning and assessment of complete denture treatment outcome. This study attempted (1) to clarify the degree of contribution of various factors to overall satisfaction, and (2) to develop a method for quantitative assessment of overall satisfaction with complete dentures. Twelve satisfaction factors and a three-grade scale were used to assess 302 complete denture patients. The contribution of each grade of the 12 factors to the overall satisfaction level was determined by multiple regression analysis. Seven factors were highly correlated to the overall satisfaction. Based on the level of contribution by these seven significant factors, a scoring method for satisfaction was established. Category scores for these factors were calculated and the sum of the category scores was converted to an integer between 0 and 100. The resulting quantification score was closely correlated with overall satisfaction. A protocol for scoring overall satisfaction was developed based on the scientifically analysed contribution of each satisfaction factor.