The Short-Term Effect of Prosthodontic Treatment on Self-Reported Oral Health Status: The Use of a Single-Item Questionnaire

Purpose: To describe self-reported oral health status before and after treatment in patients treated with fixed, removable, and complete dentures. Materials and Methods: Subjects were a convenience sample of 119 prosthodontic patients (patients treated with fixed prostheses (n = 61), removable dentures (n = 48), and complete dentures (n = 10); mean age: 57.3 ± 15.6 years; 47% women). Self-reported oral health status before and 1 month after treatment was measured with a 5-point question (responses ranging from "excellent" to "poor") frequently used in epidemiologic studies and health services research. Pretreatment and posttreatment self-ratings of oral health were compared with the findings from a national general population sample (n = 2,016; age: 16 to 79 years) categorized by their denture status. Change of oral health status was evaluated using Wilcoxon matched pairs signed ranks test. Results: "Excellent" or "very good" ratings were observed for 4% of the patients at baseline and for 16% of the patients at follow-up, which was identical to the prevalence of these ratings in the general population for subjects with removable dentures (16%) and better than for complete dentures wearers (13%). The change from pretreatment to posttreatment self-reported oral health status was statistically significant (P .001). Substantial differences in change patterns among groupings of prosthodontic therapies (fixed, removable, or complete dentures) were not observed. Conclusions: Self-reported oral health status improved considerably comparing pretreatment and posttreatment status. Single questions describing the overall situation of perceived oral health or its changes may provide simple and easy-to-interpret information about the impact of prosthodontic treatment