ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Xerostomia is a subjective feeling of dryness commonly seen in elderly populations which impairs the quality of life. Due to loss of lubricating property of saliva the buccal mucosa, tongue and lips tend to stick leading to dry, freckled, ulcerated and sore mucosa which is of major concern to the patient to use complete denture. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the relation between oral dryness score and denture satisfaction among elderly patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in prosthodontics department of a dental institution. Patients wearing dentures for at least six months were invited to participate in study. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) with scores ranging from 0-100 was used to assess patient's satisfaction and clinical oral dryness score was assessed using the criteria described by Osailan SM et al., with scores ranging from 0-10. Data was analysed with SPSS software (version-20) and Kendall's tau-b correlation was used to determine the relationship between mean denture satisfactions and mean clinical oral dryness scores. RESULTS: A total of 220 participants were included in the study based on inclusion criteria. Mean dryness score of the participants was 1.8±0.6 and mean VAS-score for denture satisfaction was 74.32±21.20 for aesthetics, for chewing ability the mean score was 62.31±19.64 and for phonetics it was 67.82±30.60. Strong negative correlation between VAS-scores and oral dryness scores was observed. CONCLUSION: Clinical oral dryness score is one of the important factors which influence denture satisfaction. Dentist should consider in predicting prognosis.
ABSTRACT
AIM: The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of denture cleansers on resiliency of soft liner. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two soft liners (Molloplast-B and Refit) and two denture cleansers (Clinsodent and Fittydent) were taken. Cylindrical aluminum dies were constructed of 12 mm length and 8 mm diameter at the ratio of 1.5:1. The samples are tested with Hounsfield tensometer. OBSERVATION AND RESULTS: Effect of both the denture cleansers on the lining materials was shown in the form of Graphs 1 and 2. The elastic recovery of Molloplast B in dry, Fittydent and Clinsodent is comparatively more than refit, but in control group the elastic recovery of both the material is almost equal. CONCLUSION: Heat processed soft liners recover faster/better in a shorter time interval when compared to self-processed liners which takes longer time for the recovery. This time period is very important as the cushioning effect of the soft liner require an elastic recovery between the masticatory strokes. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Greater the softness and better the elastic recovery of the denture soft liner, more effective would be its performance clinically. Silicon based material, such as Molloplast-B, rebounds quickly and would seem preferable to a material that is acrylic based. It is possible that, if the response is too slow or the elastic recovery is less, there may only be a partial recovery of the lining between the masticatory strokes. Progressive thinning of the lining materials might then occur resulting in a reduced cushioning effect.
