RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WEARING A REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURE AND SATISFACTION IN THE ELDERLY

Natural dentitions of elderly people are often reduced, remaining teet h heavily restored and removable partial dentures (RPD's) frequently u sed to replace absent teeth. Lack of knowledge exists on how the elder ly experience the comfort of these replacements. To get more insight 3 20 dentate noninstitutionalized subjects between 55 and 75 yr of age w ere clinically examined and interviewed by means of a questionnaire. D ata showed that only 13% of the subjects had a complete dentition from the right to the left first molar; 50% had less than four occlusal un its. 39% of the subjects was wearing a RPD. Analysis showed that subje cts with a RPD were in general less satisfied with their dental state than subjects without a partial denture. However, when the RPD added o cclusal units to the dentition, satisfaction increased significantly. No differences in satisfaction were found between subjects with a meta l frame prosthesis and an acrylic denture, nor between tooth-bounded a nd distal extension prostheses. The conclusion can be drawn that the i ndication for a RPD should be limited in elderly people, unless the RP D increased the number of the occlusal units.