Evaluation of oral function after removable partial denture therapy

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate the oral function after removable partial denture therapy from patients perspective. It was a descriptive case series. One hundred and ten partially dentate subjects were studied in the Department of Prosthodontics, de, Montmorency college of dentistry, Lahore. All the subjects were given oral health impact profile -14 questionnaire before and one month after provision of removable partial denture. Before and after treatment responses were recorded on 5 point Lickert scale. The post treatment scores were compared with pretreatment baseline scores and improvement in oral functional problems were assessed. 96% of study subjects had problems in pronouncing words, which persisted in 56% of the subjects after using removable partial denture. 94% of the study group had taste problems before removable partial denture treatment, which improved in 50% of study population after therapy. This suggested that removable partial dentures had a positive impact on oral function in almost half of the population. Lack of improvement in remaining group can be attributed to lack of education and awareness which was responsible for negative attitude of these patients towards removable partial dentures