Investigation of the relationship between chewing efficacy and quality of life with residual alveolar crest height in traditional completed dentures

Completely edentulous patients are faced with decreased quality of life as well as losing their chewing functions. Complete dentures, seem to be an ideal treatment option for people with systemic, anatomical and financial problems. Successful treatment and patient satisfaction in complete denture wearers are determined by various factors such as anatomical, technical, aesthetic, psychological and functional factors. Oral health-related quality of life can be measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) and the functions of the complete dentures can be evaluated by chewing effectiveness tests. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mandibular ridge form, patient's chewing ability, satisfaction with dentures and oral health-related quality of life in complete denture wearers. A total of 69 edentulous patients, who visited our clinic for complete dentures in last 6 months participated in this study. They were recalled for clinical and radiographic folow-up after 3 months from their treatments. Panoramic radiography measurements were done with ImageJ program for the alveolar bone resorption determination. They were asked to fill the OHIP-14 questionnaire for quality of life assessment. Then, two colour chewing gum test was used to measure the patient's chewing performances. The chewing gum samples were analyzed with Viewgum analysis program and the chewing efficiency values were determined. Then their relationship with alveolar bone heights and OHIP-14 score values were examined. As a result of this study, the relationship with te alveolar residual bone height, chewing efficiency and quality of life were found to be significant.