Patients’ esthetic expectations and satisfaction with complete dentures
Available online 31 January 2017
Abstract
Statement of problem
Understanding
the factors affecting patients’ satisfaction with their dentures is
essential to achieving higher satisfaction rates.
Purpose
The
purpose of this clinical study was to test for possible relationships
between the esthetic satisfaction of complete denture therapy and
factors including age, sex, and esthetic expectations.
Material and methods
Data
were integrated from 4 previous studies of complete denture
satisfaction, and a secondary data analysis was performed. All studies,
which had similar methodologies, recorded patients’ esthetic expectation
and satisfaction scores using a 0 to 10 visual analog scale. The Sign
test was used to test the difference between satisfaction and
expectations. The Fisher exact, Spearman rank correlation, Wilcoxon rank
sum, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, as well as the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel
test using ridit scores, were used to assess the relationships regarding
the heterogeneity among studies, satisfaction, and factors of interest.
Results
Of
the 283 participants studied, 52% were female, and the median age was
58 years. The satisfaction scores exceeded expectation scores
significantly (P<.001), although they were both high. Age, sex, and expectations were different among studies (P<.008); age also differed between sexes (P=.004). After adjusting for the study, men had higher expectations than women (P=.005);
there was no sex difference in level of satisfaction. Only in men was
satisfaction positively correlated with expectations (r=0.300; P<.001).
Conclusions
Overall,
patients were more esthetically satisfied than they expected after
completing denture therapy; esthetic satisfaction did not differ between
sexes or with age. The expectation of men was higher than that of women
and was positively correlated with their level of satisfaction.
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