Comparison of expectation and satisfaction among new and existing denture wearers and correlation of duration of previous denture-wearing experience to satisfaction in completely edentulous patients: A pilot study

AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the patients’ expectation and satisfaction with complete dentures before and after the treatment concerning retention, mastication, phonetics, esthetics, and comfort among the first-time denture wearers and already denture wearers and to find the correlation between duration of denture-wearing experience and satisfaction. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross sectional survey . MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was given to the patient before the onset of the treatment, and ratings were given by the patient for expectation regarding retention, mastication, phonetics, esthetics, and comfort. Patient-related variables regarding previous denture experience and duration of wearing were also recorded. After the treatment was completed, the patient was asked to complete the same questionnaire to assess the satisfaction. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics, frequency and percentage analysis, Wilcoxon signed- rank test, Mann–Whitney U-test. RESULTS: Expectation and satisfaction were met for all the variables except mastication (P = 0.004) for first-time wearers and except mastication (P = 0.001) and comfort (P = 0.007) among existing denture wearers. However, no significant correlation was elicited between patient expectation and satisfaction in both these groups as the overall mean satisfaction percentage was similar. A clinical significance of P = 0.037 was seen with respect to the duration of denture-wearing experience among existing wearers. Regression model analysis showed a decreased satisfaction with increased duration of wearing (r = 0.396). CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction and expectation were found to be almost the same irrespective of whether they are first-time wearers or existing wearers. With the increase in the duration of denture-wearing experience, the satisfaction of the patients decreased.