Clinical study on occlusal rehabilitation in elderly patients with abnormal occlusion / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the clinical effects and clinical classification of occlusal rehabilitation in elderly patients with abnormal occlusion, and to discuss the diagnosis principles and the practical techniques of the dental prosthesis for occlusal rehabilitation. Methods Forty two elderly patients with abnormal occlusion were treated with occlusal rehabilitation with fixed dentures, fixed-removable dentures and removable partial dentures. Eight patients among them simultaneously had temporomandibular joint(TMJ) disorder. After the clinical procedures including examination, diagnosis, prosthesis design, manufacture, application of occlusal rehabilitation and post-treatment evaluation, the using condition of dentures, patients' satisfaction ratings, TMJ functions and abutment teeth healthy status were examined before and after treatment. Results All the patients were satisfied with their dentures' general functions 1 year after treatment. Compared with the removable partial dentures, the other two types of prosthesis showed better clinical outcomes (χ2=4.15,P<0.05) and compacts on phonation of the dentures (χ2=4.71,P<0.05). In the 8 patients with TMJ disorder, 7 cases were cured completely. The treatment effects of TMJ pain (χ2=0.031, P<0.05)and TMJ click (χ2=0.038, P<0.05)had statistical differences. 30 teeth of the 203 abutment teeth (14.8%) had the problems of periodontal diseases and secondary caries and the incidences of these problems were higher in using removable partial dentures treatment than in the other two methods. Conclusions After the systematic diagnosis and the prosthesis design procedures of occlusal rehabilitation, it is important to choose a proper prostheses for the elderly patients according to their physical and psychological features, which may give the patients satisfactory results.