Oral Health-related Quality of Life of Patients Using Removable Dentures - Review of Literature

Metal-based and acrylic partial and complete dentures constitute the treatment of choice in many cases of prosthetic rehabilitation. Loss of teeth and using a removable denture significantly affect patients' quality of life. The introduction of the term 'oral health-related quality of life' (OHRQoL) and availability of instruments that can be used for its determination allowed evaluating patient's satisfaction with this type of restoration. The aim of this study is to review literature on this subject and to investigate how removable dentures affect the quality of life of their users as well as to identify factors influencing patient satisfaction. The search of Pubmed revealed 49 articles related to the subject and the most relevant publications were included in the review. It was demonstrated that a removable denture may contribute to the improvement of patient's quality of life after an adaptation period. Clinicians should make every effort to design aesthetic dentures with good retention and stabilization. Patients should be instructed in detail on maintaining oral and denture hygiene and informed about possible difficulties they may experience when adapting to the prostheses