Pre-treatment denture patient expectations in a university clinic

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Background: It has been indicated that expectation of patients can greatly influence the result of treatment. Many prosthetic failures result not from technical difficulties but of mismatch between patient expectation for prosthesis and the dentist's goal for the same treatment.
Materials and methods: One hundred patients were selected with an average age of 58.4 ranges of 30-78 years. Patients were interviewed to answer a questionnaire related to patient's expectation measurement. This was justified through statements related to fit, function, comfort, esthetics, and general expectations.
RESULTS: It was found that many patients did not expect dentures to look just like or having better appearance than natural teeth. Others however reported high expectation in relation to fit and function.
Conclusion: Most patients gave realistic expectations concerning the items of comfort, esthetics and general expectations compared with having no teeth and with natural teeth. They showed high expectations however in response to function and fit. They believed that dentures should fit perfectly and not move and that they should be able to eat and chew as well with dentures as with natural teeth.
Key words: Expectation, function, realistic, comfort. (J Bagh Coll Dentistry 2006; 18(1) 33-37)