The Effect of Complete Dentures on the Quality of Life of Edentulous Patients in the South Indian Population Based on Gender and Systemic Disease

Purpose Different socio-demographic variables, such as age, gender, and systemic disease, may affect satisfaction with complete dentures. Several studies have failed to show strong correlations either between patient satisfaction with their dentures and their quality or between denture satisfaction and the quality of the denture-supporting tissues. Hence, this study utilized a standardized questionnaire that included questions from domains such as mastication, appearance, speech, comfort, health, denture care, and social status. These questionnaires were used to determine the level of complete denture satisfaction along with socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, and systemic condition. Materials and method A total number of 128 completely edentulous patients aged between 40 and 50 years were selected. A standardized questionnaire, with 19 questions based on denture satisfaction level and masticatory capacity in the domains of functional limitation (FL), psychological discomfort (D1), psychological disability (D2), and social disability (D3), was administered. All the questions were recorded on a scale of 2, 1, 0 based on satisfied, moderately satisfied, and not satisfied, whereas hardly ever, occasionally, and very often were used for masticatory capacity. Questions on denture satisfaction were asked based on the post-treatment satisfaction with the new maxillary/mandibular complete dentures of the patients. Results Based on gender, the distribution of samples was 46.09% for male patients and 53.91% for female patients among the 128 patients selected. Similarly, based on systemic diseases, 66.41% had the presence of systemic disease while 28.13% did not have any systemic disease. Around 5.47% of the sample did not have any medical records. The predominance of psychological satisfaction was more for female patients. Based on systemic disease, it was observed that patients with the presence of systemic disease (Pn) were more psychologically comfortable than those who did not have systemic disease. The predominance of functional satisfaction was not marked in both genders. Based on systemic disease, it was observed that patients with the presence of systemic disease (Pn) had less functional comfort on mastication than those who did not have a systemic disease. Conclusion The acceptance of and satisfaction with complete denture treatment were comparatively higher in patients who had a systemic disease than in those with a non-systemic disease in terms of psychological and social comfort, whereas, in functionality, patients with a non-systemic disease had a higher satisfaction level.