A Comparison of Oral Health-related Quality of Life between Patients Requesting Implant Treatment and Conventional Denture Treatment

Purpose: To compare oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) with patients who requested implant treatment and conventional denture treatment.Materials and methods: Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaire during July 2004-January 2005 at four dental offices located in Japan. Subjects who requested implant treatment (IT) were 12, and requested conventional denture treatment (DT) were 19. OHRQoL was measured by the 16-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-JP16). The OHIP-JP16 total and subscale scores were calculated by summing the 16 items score without weighting. The mean OHIP-JP16 total scores and the mean scores of six subscales (functional limitation, physical discomfort, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, handicap) between groups were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U-test. Chi square tests were used compare responses to individual items. ‘Never’ and ‘hardly ever,’ (no impact) were recorded as ‘0’, ‘occasionally’, ‘fairly often’, and ‘very often’ (any impact) were recorded as ‘1’.Results: The mean age was 62.4 years old in IT and 66.6 years old in DT (p=0.596). No differences in denture status, self-perceived oral health, number of teeth were found between two groups. DT subjects had better OHIP-JP16 total scores than IT, but it was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Chi square tests were performed for each of 16 items. The number of subject reported ‘any impact’ was significantly greater (p<0.05) in IT in the following items; ‘worried’, ‘self-conscious’, ‘avoid eating’, ‘upset’ and ‘life unsatisfactory’. No significant differences were detected in the following 5 subscales; ‘functional limitation’, ‘psychological discomfort’, ‘physical disability’ , ‘psychological disability’ and ‘handicap’, while ‘physical discomfort’ was signify- cantly lower (e.g. higher QOL status) in DT.Conclusion: OHIP-JP16 scores of the subjects who requested implant treatment were significantly higher in ‘physical discomfort’ than requested conventional denture. The results of this study suggested that in the patients who requested implant treatment, OHRQoL might be lower than the patients who requested conventional denture treatment.