Critical evaluation of patient responses to dental implant therapy

Statement of problem. Successful rehabilitation of the edentulous condition requires functional and psychosocial adaptation by the patient. Quality of life is markedly affected by the amount of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their dental therapy. Patient concerns are primarily related to comfort, function, and esthetics. When these do not meet the patients expectations, anxiety, insecurity, diminished self-esteem, and introversion are typical psychosocial responses.Purpose. The objectives of the study were to assess the patient's subjective feelings about: (a) comfort, (b) function, (c) esthetics, (d) speech, (e) self-image, and (f) overall dental health with their existing complete dentures, and after implant therapy and prosthodontic rehabilitation. Material and methods. Two health-related quality of life (HRQL) questionnaires were developed to evaluate the effectiveness of dental implant therapy; one dealing with their feelings about their conventional complete dentures, and the second dealing with implant therapy. The first questionnaire was administered with supervision before receiving implant treatment. The second questionnaire was administered within 1 year after completion of prosthetic rehabilitation. Twenty-six patients who received implants to support a mandibular prosthesis and a new maxillary denture formed the experimental population. Results. Discriminative and evaluative analysis of subjective patient responses provided reliable, accurate, and reproducible results. Assessment of subject feelings before and after implant therapy and prosthodontic rehabilitation demonstrated significant differences when before treatment responses were compared with the responses after therapy. Conclusions. Significant differences for comfort, function, speech, esthetics, self-image, and dental health were demonstrated when conventional complete dentures and dental implant therapy were compared. HRQL data provided scientific evidence of an improved quality of life after dental implant therapy (p < 0.000). (J Prosthet Dent 1997;78:574)