Impact of prosthodontic status on oral wellbeing: a cross-sectional cohort study

To assess the impact of the prosthodontic status on oral health-related quality of life and satisfaction. We performed a cohort study at the University Clinic in Salamanca in which a group requesting prosthetic treatment (P0; n = 31) was compared with a group treated with conventional prostheses (P1; n = 29) and a control group (C; n = 18) not requesting or treated with prostheses. A clinical examination for the presence of caries, periodontal disease and edentulism was carried out. An assessment was made on the impact on the quality of life employing the oral impacts on daily performance-Spanish version and the oral health impact profile 14-Spanish version, and wellbeing was assessed by the self-rated satisfaction on a 0-10 scale. The P0 cohort was significantly less satisfied and suffered a greater level of impact as regard their quality of life than the other cohorts. The main benefit of conventional prosthetic treatment was perceived by most of the treated patients (P1) in dimensions related to chewing, the aesthetic function and the assessment of the general state of the mouth. However, an unexpected proportion of patients underwent a worsening of their oral wellbeing after prosthetic treatment, mainly in the chewing ability (23%) and pain discomfort (19%) dimensions. Satisfaction and quality of life were higher in the treated group (P1) and controls (C) than in those requesting prosthetic treatment (P0).