Evaluation of oral health-related quality of life in parkinson's patients using removable dentures

This research aimed to assess the impact of conventional complete and removable partial dentures on oral health-related quality of life among healthy individuals utilizing removable prostheses and patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), factoring in the progression stages of PD. The objective was to pinpoint areas where the type of prosthesis might affect the quality of life either positively or negatively and to explore how sociodemographic factors like age, gender, and education could influence the quality of life. The study involved PD patients, who sought medical help at Baskent University Medical Faculty and Baskent University Faculty of Dentistry, as well as healthy individuals using removable dentures. Two questionnaire tools, the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), were administered to participants. The sample size consisted of 120 patients; 60 from the PD group and 60 from the healthy individuals group. Among the PD patients, 30% (n=36) were in PD stages 1-2, and 20% (n=24) were in stages 3-4. Various statistical methods, including Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Shapiro-Wilk test, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, Levene's test, Student's t-test,Mann Whitney U test were used to analize the data. A p-value of less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. No significant correlation was found between gender and education levels distribution in PD and healthy groups, the types of prostheses used, and the total scores of OHIP-14 and GOHAI. However, the PD group's total scores on OHIP-14 and GOHAI were noted to be higher compared to the healthy individuals. Patients with PD using either complete denture(CD) or removable partial denture(RPD) demonstrated statistically higher total scores on OHIP-14 and GOHAI compared to the control group. Within the PD group using CD or RPD, patients in stages 3-4 had statistically higher total scores on the OHIP-14 and GOHAI than those in stages 1-2. Furthermore, among patients in both the p1-2 and p3-4 stages, those using CD had significantly higher total scores on OHIP-14 and GOHAI than those using PRD. In conclusion, the study suggests that for PD patients in advanced stages, dentists could enhance the quality of life by considering the patient's functional status, oral hygiene skills, and the prostheses' stabilization while selecting the most suitable prosthetic type.