Page 160 - Impact of implant retained overdenture treatment and speech, oromyofunction, social participation and quality of life.

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Chapter 7
4. The results of our study showed that the different personality traits were related to self-reported quality of life and social participation, but didn’t influence the effect of the treatment on social participation and OHRQoL. Our findings suggest that it is useful to rely on multiple observers to evaluate dental treatment. It would be very useful in the future for dentists to have more insight in different kinds of patients and how to manage their concerns. It is still our goal as a professional to provide the best situation for the patients quality of life.
Social relevance
Overdenture treatment turns out to be a valuable solution for patients in need of a stable solution for their removable denture in edentulous jaw (either mandible or maxilla). The satisfaction after final connection and follow-up is very high. Even in elderly people with heavily resorbed jaws there is now the possibility to be treated with mini dental implants. Dental rehabilitation is nowadays more than only taking care of teeth. It is about the whole person and his/her comfort. Patients seem to expect a lot of science and they expect clinicians to be informed about every aspect of the treatment. This requires a more translational/multidisciplinary approach.
This thesis gives more insight in how speech problems and oromyofunctional problems may occur in overdenture treatment. This longitudinal insight is rarely reported and adds to the existing literature. Also the use of two independent SLP’s in evaluating speech and oromyofunctional behavior is of great value. The influence of personality on patient related outcome measurements and the use of multi-perspective observations is an important way of looking at patients. It is important for dentists to be informed about how to handle certain patients.