The use of existing denture-satisfaction ratings for a diagnostic test to indicate prognosis with newly delivered complete dentures

PurposeThe study investigated the relation between subjective satisfaction ratings of existing dentures and outcomes of newly delivered dentures, and the ability of the diagnostic test, using existing ratings, to indicate prognosis with newly delivered dentures.MethodsConsecutive 165 edentulous patients were recruited from November 2001 to August 2006 at a university-affiliated hospital. Dentures were fabricated with an acrylic base with full-balanced occlusion using hard resin artificial teeth by multiple prosthodontists. At the baseline and 3-month after delivery, patients rate their overall, maxillary, and mandibular satisfaction for existing and replaced dentures on a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). The association between baseline ratings and newly delivered dentures was analyzed by regression analysis. The test's performance was measured by constructing a two-by-two table; patients with the following cutoff values on the VAS (overall: ≤31; maxillary: ≤47; mandibular: ≤36) were considered unsatisfied with existing or new dentures. Relative validity of the diagnostic tests was assessed by means of sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios.ResultsMandibular dentures showed a significant association between baseline and new dentures (coefficient = 0.27, p = 0.01). Results of test measures for overall, maxillary, and mandibular existing dentures were 71%, 38%, and 87% (sensitivity); 62%, 66%, and 49% (specificity); and 1.1, 1.9, and 1.7 (positive likelihood), and 0.5, 1.0, and 0.2 (negative likelihood).ConclusionsTest performance indicates that the negative (satisfied) result for mandibular existing dentures may be useful to rule out the unsatisfied patients with new mandibular dentures.