Impact of procedures during prosthodontic treatment on patients' perceived burdens

OBJECTIVES: To assess patient-perceived process-related quality of care in patients undergoing different prosthodontic treatments, and to investigate whether perceived burdens are related to specific procedures during prosthodontic treatments, i.e., to specific treatment components.

METHODS: In this non-randomised prospective intervention study, 104 dental patients (mean age: 52.2±13.9 years, 50% female) were included. Burdens during treatments with fixed dental prostheses (FDP, n=90), removable dental prostheses (RDP, n=10), and complete dentures (CD; n=4) were assessed with the Burdens in Prosthetic Dentistry Questionnaire (BiPD-Q). The BiPD-Q total score was calculated as mean of all 25 items, and subscale scores were derived from items corresponding to six specific treatment components (anesthesia, preparation, impression, provisional care/try-in, fixation, global perception), with values ranging from 0 (best) to 100 (worst). Subscale scores were compared by using repeated-measures ANOVA, paired t-tests, and effect sizes, to identify treatment components with highest burdens.

RESULTS: Mean BiPD-Q total score was 22.1, ranging from 8.6 for patients with CD to 24.0 for FDP patients. Perceived burdens differed significantly between treatment components, with highest burdens for anesthesia (score: 34.0), followed by preparation (score: 26.8) and impression (score: 24.7). When subscale score for anesthesia was compared to scores for other treatment components, effect sizes were medium to large.

CONCLUSION: While prosthodontic treatment is overall perceived as only moderately burdening, specific treatment components differ significantly in perceived burdens.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Anesthesia, preparation, and impression are treatment components with most unpleasant perceptions, offering the highest potential for improvements for patient-perceived process-related quality of care in prosthetic dentistry.