Changes in patient satisfaction and masticatory efficiency during adaptation to new dentures.

Because adapting to new conventional dentures is highly variable, there is uncertainty as to how long dissatisfied patients should wait before choosing a treatment with dental implants. The authors investigated whether changes in patient satisfaction and masticatory efficiency may be observed between 3 and 6 months after the insertion of new conventional complete dentures. The study included 24 edentulous patients requiring new complete dentures. Masticatory efficiency and patient satisfaction were evaluated at 3 and 6 months post-insertion. Masticatory efficiency was evaluated through the colorimetric method, with the beads as the artificial test food. A method for quantifying overall satisfaction of complete-denture wearers was used. Subjects were asked to respond to questions with three-grade answers concerning 12 factors: chewing, tasting, speech, esthetics, pain, fit, retention, and comfort (maxillary and mandibular evaluations were done for each of the last four factors). The results of patient satisfaction and masticatory efficiency at 3 and 6 months post-insertion were compared using the paired-samples t test (α = 0.05). Significant reductions in mandibular pain (P less than 0.05) and improvements in mandibular fit (P less than 0.05) were observed at 6 months. No difference was found for patient overall satisfaction, chewing, tasting, speech, maxillary pain, esthetics, maxillary fit, retention, comfort, and masticatory efficiency. The authors concluded that reduction in pain and improvements in adaptation of the lower denture may be observed between 3 and 6 months after insertion of new conventional complete dentures. This period of adaptation should be considered before choosing a treatment with dental implants.