Dental News - Study focuses on patient satisfaction when using IFCDPs

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 28. March 2018

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CHICAGO, U.S.: Implant-supported fixed complete dental prostheses (IFCDPs) are changing modern dentistry, with more people opting for implants than for dentures when treating edentulous. This shift in patients’ preference also means that more data is needed on both patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes. With this in mind, researchers in the United States recently performed a retrospective study that focused on patients’ oral health, quality of life and IFCDP complications.

The 37 patients who took part in the study had a total of 49 prostheses. Each patient was given a written questionnaire, attended an in-person interview and had an oral exam of their IFCDPs. The synthetic materials present in the IFCDPs included 22 metal-acrylics (MAs), 14 retrievable crowns (RCs), seven monolithic zirconias (MZs) and six porcelain-veneered zirconias (PVZs).

According to the study’s results, the most common complications found for each compound were posterior tooth wear in MAs, fractures and chipping in RCs, wear of opposing restorations in MZs and the chipping of opposing restorations in PVZs. Additionally, six prostheses were deemed failures by researchers, mainly due to fracturing and chipping—this included two MAs, two PVZs and two RCs.

After reviewing the questionnaires and interviews, researchers uncovered a high level of patient satisfaction regarding prostheses. 87 per cent of the test participants stated that their levels of satisfaction ranged from “very” to “extremely”, with 89 percent stating they felt their IFCDPs “looked great”. According to the researchers, PVZ prostheses were shown to have the most negative effect on patients, while the MZ had the least, with the chief complaint being around functional limitation with regard to chewing, differences in speech patterns and hygiene.

Commenting on the study, the researchers believe it may help clinicians recognise common problems with full arch dental implant-supported prostheses, while also aiding in providing predictable results for patients. However, they also alluded to the research being limited in its scope of observed complications as well as the size of the study group.

The study, titled “Patient-Reported and Clinical Outcomes of Implant-Supported Fixed Complete Dental Prostheses: A Comparison of Metal-Acrylic, Milled Zirconia, and Retrievable Crown Prostheses”, was published in the Journal of Oral Implantology, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2018.

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