Are fixed dental prostheses better than conventional removable prostheses in terms of quality of life improvement : a systematic review

Abstract

Background Dental prostheses have seen a major change since the advent of dental implants in 1965. The osseointegration property of titanium fixtures enables dentists to place a dental prosthesis at almost everywhere intra-orally provided there is sufficient bone to support it. The novel treatment modality had attracted attention of clinicians who had made multiple innovations on their use. Meanwhile, there has also been a shift of focus in the medical field from disease-centered outcome to subjective patient-centered outcome in the measurement of health status. Quality of Life (QoL) measurements are one of the subjective measurements of health status. They provided a means for clinicians to compare different prostheses, including dental prostheses.

Aim and Objectives This systematic review seeks to identify evidence that proves the superiority of the new treatment modality in improving QoL or Oral Health Related QoL and to briefly discuss their implications for public health policies in Hong Kong.

Methods Researches which compare conventional removable dental prostheses and the fixed alternatives in terms of improving QoL were identified. The evidence was scrutinized, critically analyzed and a summary was made.

Results Current evidence is only strong enough to support the superiority of the new implanted supported prostheses over the conventional type for patients without lower teeth.

Discussion and Conclusions It is concluded in this systematic review that the new implant-fixed or supported dental prostheses are superior to conventional removable dental prostheses for patients without lower teeth. However, it is so far inconclusive as to whether dental implants have greater impact on QoL of partially dentate patients than conventional removable dental prostheses. The cost-effectiveness of this treatment modality in improving QoL is also unclear yet.