The influence of denture design on patient acceptance of partial dentures.

A study was designed to investigate the influence of denture design on patient acceptance of partial dentures. A total of 317 patients provided with partial dentures by the Department of Prosthodontics, Newcastle Dental School 2-3 years previously, were asked to complete a postal questionnaire about their use of these dentures. Denture status and partial denture design for these patients was established using hospital records. Design variables included material, the number and distribution of replaced teeth, denture support and connector design. In all, 86% of patients (273) returned the questionnaire. A total of 393 partial dentures (210 upper, 183 lower) had been constructed for these patients; 99 (25%) dentures were never worn and a further 57 (15%) dentures were only worn occasionally. Non-wearers were more likely to have no replacement anterior teeth, fewer replacement teeth and, in the lower, a lingual bar. When a multivariate model including all recorded variables was constructed using multiple logistic regression analysis, the presence of anterior replacement teeth for all dentures and the number of replacement teeth for upper dentures were found to be the only significant positive influences on denture wearing. Use of a lingual bar did not influence denture wearing habits.