Effect of treatment with fixed and removable dental prostheses. An oral health-related quality of life study

The aim of the study was to evaluate patient-reported effects of treatment with fixed dental prostheses (FDP) and removable dental prostheses (RDP) and relate the change in Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) to the type of treatment and objective dental variables of aesthetics and mastication. Additionally, the purpose of the study was to identify aspects of impairment and improvement that the treatments caused. Fixed dental prostheses treatment was performed in 200 patients and RDP treatment in 107 patients. Gender, age, region of replacement, and number of teeth present and replaced were obtained. The participants completed the Oral Health Impact Profile 49 (OHIP-49) before and after treatment. A control group with no need for dental treatment also completed the OHIP-49. All participants had a significant improvement in OHRQoL. The improvement was higher for the RDP group than the FDP group. Removable dental prostheses that replaced only masticatory teeth did not improve the OHRQoL significantly. The improvement in OHRQoL for both the FDP and RDP groups was not at the level of the control group. Higher age was associated with lower improvement in OHRQoL. Higher age, being a woman and having teeth replaced in the aesthetic zone were associated with deterioration in OHRQoL. Both RDP treatment and FDP treatment were associated with a reduction in the problems most frequently reported before treatment. Treatment with RDP was associated with new problems caused by the RDP. Fixed dental prostheses and RDP treatments improved OHRQoL and reduced the number of problems. The RDP participants improved more than the FDP participants.