Iranian Biomedical Journal

Iranian Biomedical Journal

Effect of Using Denture on the Oral Health Related Quality of Life in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Authors
Razieh Sadeghi
Hassan Rezaeipandari
10.61186/ibj.25th-11th-IACRTIMSS
Abstract
Introduction: The oral health-related quality of life is a complex concept that consists of different dimensions such as psychological (appearance and self-confidence), performance (conversation), social behaviors (communication and intimacy), and pain (acute and chronic). One of the problems of the elderly is the loss of natural teeth and the subsequent need to use dentures. Using dentures can have different and important effects on the oral health-related quality of life. Therefore, this review study aimed to examine the effect of dentures on oral health-related quality of life in older adults.

Search Strategy: In this study, using the electronic databases of Science Direct, Google Scholar, Pubmed, Web of Science, IranDoc, and SID, the keywords “denture”, “oral health”, “quality of life”, and “older adult” were searched without considering the time limit. The 83 obtained articles were reviewed according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and seven articles were finally selected.

Results: The available evidence on the effect of dentures on the oral health-related quality of life in the elderly showed different results. Three studies indicated that the use of dentures significantly improves oral health-related quality of life. In contrast, four other studies showed that older adults who use dentures had a lower oral health-related quality of life than older adults. Also, in all studies, the importance of designing a suitable denture for every older adult was mentioned.

Conclusion and Discussion: The use of dentures may be one of the causes of low oral health-related quality of life in the elderly. Therefore, the necessary policies to improve oral and dental health in this period should be predicted before old age. However, careful selection and design of dentures suitable for every elderly person and fixing their weaknesses can improve the oral health-related quality of life.



Keywords
Aged
Dentures
oral health
Quality of Life
Iranian Biomedical Journal
Volume 28, Special Issue-October 2024 - Serial Number 116
November and December 2024
Pages 239-239