THE INFLUENCE OF REPLACING ANTERIOR TEETH ON PATIENT ACCEPTANCE OF REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURES IN SAUDI ARABIA

The current study aims to investigate the interaction between factors that might affect patients' acceptance of removable partial dentures (RPDs) with a focus on the impact of replacing the anterior teeth. One hundred and forty-seven patients were recruited for the study. These patients were treated with removable partial dentures (RPD) during undergraduate courses at two different dental schools in Riyadh province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Patients were contacted by telephone and asked about satisfaction with their dentures based on a standardized questionnaire (a set of 17 questions). Participants were distributed into two groups: The first group included patients who have had RPDs replacing anterior teeth (aesthetic area) and the second group included patients who have had RPDs replacing posterior teeth only. No statistically significant relationship between the area of replacement and satisfaction with the denture could be found (Chisquared test p = 0.45). The majority of participants who were currently using dentures reported being satisfied while the majority of those who sometimes use or don't use dentures reported being dissatisfied. Common reasons limiting the use of dentures were "Denture is causing some pain" (33.3% of participants who were not using dentures) and "Denture is loose" (42.9% of participants who were not using dentures). The current study demonstrates that there is no relation between patient satisfaction and the replacement of the anterior teeth. However, the dissatisfaction may increase with dentures being loose or if they cause pain.