The influences of fear, anxiety, and depression on the patient's adaptive responses to complete dentures. Part I.

Loss and body image can result in anxiety, depression, or both and can affect a patient's adaptive capacity to accept edentulism and complete dentures. A specific classification system has been presented to identify responses by individuals who are made edentulous. Three types of maladaptive responses are considered as probable consequences of fear, anxiety, and depression associated with tooth loss and complete dentures. In maladaptive class 1, the patient adapts physically but is maladaptive psychologically; thus suffering some impairment of the quality of life. In maladaptive class 2, the so-called "difficult patient" is maladaptive physically and psychologically and keeps the doctor involved technically and emotionally for a protracted period of time. The maladaptive class 3 patient collapses with the loss of teeth. Physical and emotional maladaptibility is accompanied by much suffering and social withdrawal.