Oral health related quality of life in cleft lip and palate patients rehabilitated with conventional prostheses or dental implants

Cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) is the most common congenital craniofacial abnormality, with a prevalence of 9.92 per 10,000 live births. In treating patients with CLP, oral rehabilitation is definitely a very important phase of the treatment in order to improve the patient's oral health related quality of life (OH-QoL). The aim of this retrospective study is to assess the OH-QoL in patients rehabilitated with different prosthetic options, thus comparing the conventional treatments, which include removable partial dentures and fixed partial dentures, with the implant-supported prostheses

The Randomized Shortened Dental Arch Study: Tooth Loss

The evidence concerning the management of shortened dental arch (SDA) cases is sparse. This multi-center study was aimed at generating data on outcomes and survival rates for two common treatments, removable dental prostheses (RDP) for molar replacement or no replacement (SDA). The hypothesis was that the treatments lead to different incidences of tooth loss. We included 215 patients with complete molar loss in one jaw. Molars were either replaced by RDP or not replaced, according to the SDA concept. First tooth loss after treatment was the primary outcome measure. This event occurred in 13 patients in the RDP group and nine patients in the SDA group. The respective Kaplan-Meier survival rates at 38 months were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.74-0.91) in the RDP group and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.78-0.95) in the SDA group, the difference being non-significant

Treatment needs and skill mix workforce requirements for prosthodontic care: a comparison of estimates using normative and sociodental approaches.

The traditional measure for assessing dental treatment needs and workforce requirements based solely on normative need (NN) has major shortcomings. The sociodental approach (SDA) to assess needs overcomes some of the shortcomings as it combines normative and subjective needs assessments and also incorporates behavioural propensity (Sheiham and Tsakos 2007). The objective of this study was to estimate and compare prosthodontic treatment needs and workforce requirements, using the normative and the sociodental approaches for different skill mix models

Treatment needs and skill mix workforce requirements for prosthodontic care: a comparison of estimates using normative and sociodental approaches.

The traditional measure for assessing dental treatment needs and workforce requirements based solely on normative need (NN) has major shortcomings. The sociodental approach (SDA) to assess needs overcomes some of the shortcomings as it combines normative and subjective needs assessments and also incorporates behavioural propensity (Sheiham and Tsakos 2007). The objective of this study was to estimate and compare prosthodontic treatment needs and workforce requirements, using the normative and the sociodental approaches for different skill mix models

Impending Total Airway Collapse Involving a Maxillary Removable Partial Denture: A Clinical Report

This article presents a rare incident of a bilateral maxillary removable partial denture as an airway foreign body. The removable partial denture and the surrounding soft tissue irritation caused partial obstruction of the airway. Impending airway collapse was avoided after successful removal of the foreign body. Removing a removable dental prostheses at night, not only to prevent soft tissue pathology but also to avoid ingestion or aspiration of the prosthesis, must be emphasized

Consequences of Tooth Loss on Oral Function and need for Replacement of Missing Teeth Among Patients Attending Muhimbili Dental Clinic

Tanzanian oral health services constitute mainly of tooth extractions. Consequently, individuals susceptible to dental caries and periodontal diseases will have a substantial number of missing teeth, which can affect oral function. The main objective of this study was to determine the consequences of tooth loss on the oral function and need for replacement of lost teeth among patients seeking treatment at the School of Dentistry MUHAS. During a period of three months, patients seeking dental treatment at the School of Dentistry were recruited for the study. Criteria included age of 20 years and above with one or more missing teeth except for third molars. Participants were interviewed for demographic information, chewing ability, symptoms of temporomandibular disorder and perceived need for replacement of missing teeth. Afterwards the subjects were examined to asses: caries status, tooth mobility, occlusal tooth wear, over eruption of unopposed teeth, and signs of temporomandibular disorders. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS 16. For comparison of proportions, chi-square analysis and t test were used. A linear regression analysis was performed, with the chewing ability score as the dependent variable and number of POP as the independent variable A total of 361 subjects with mean age of 40.2 years (s.d. = 14.2, range = 20-93 years) were recruited into the study. About half 175 (48.5%) of the subjects reported some difficulty with chewing. Generally the fewer the occluding pairs present the greater the difficulty in chewing observed. Subjects with more than 6 posterior occlusal pairs appeared to have little problem in chewing across the whole range of foods. The frequency of signs and symptoms of TMD and excessive tooth wear increased with decreasing number of posterior occluding pairs, being more evident in subjects with less than 3 posterior occlusal pairs remaining. Over a third of the participants had one or more teeth with severe overeruption but none reported impairment of oral function. More than half of the subjects needed replacement for missing teeth. From this study, it is concluded that tooth loss leading to a dentition of 5 to 6 occlusal pairs impairs chewing of hard foods but not soft foods. Extensive loss of teeth leading to less than 3 POP is associated with increased symptoms of TMD and excessive vii tooth wear of occluding teeth. Need for replacement of missing teeth is high for both anterior and posterior regions with the cost of dentures being the main barrier to replacement of missing teeth. Dental personnel should make an effort to identify individuals with risk of tooth loss in order to retain at least 6 well-distributed posterior occlusal pairs. Dental laboratory services need improvement in order to be able to provide quality replacement of missing teeth at affordable costs. Further long-term multicenter studies to evaluate the consequence of tooth loss and assist in giving a more accurate projection needs for dentures nationwide are required