COMPARISONS OF PATIENT SELF-ASSESSMENT OF COMPLETE MANDIBULAR DENTURESECURITY

Records of self-assessed complete mandibular denture security were mad e by visual analogue scale, four-category functional scale, and by sel f-expressed satisfaction or dissatisfaction on 57 subjects that presen ted for replacement of complete dentures at an undergraduate clinic. V isual analogue scale scores formed two groups corresponding approximat ely to the groups of subjects expressing satisfaction or dissatisfacti on with the current security of their dentures. The self-assessed visu al analogue scale scores enabled variations in denture security to be quantified. Visual analogue scale scores of denture security were not normally distributed, but formed two separate distributions which corr esponded approximately with the sets of satisfied (visual analogue sca le > 50) and dissatisfied (visual analogue scale < 50) patients. The d ata showed that the visual analogue scale method was superior to the o ther two types of patient self-assessment.