Quality of Life of Complete Denture Wearers—A Comparative Study between Conventional Dentures and Acrylic Dentures with Vitamin B12 Incorporated

• Main Authors: Dana Gabriela Budală, Elena Raluca Baciu, Dragoș Ioan Virvescu, Adina Armencia, Mihaela Monica Scutariu, Zinovia Surlari, Carina Balcoș
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Medicina
• Subjects: complete dentures; crosslinked polymerization; vitamin B12; quality of life
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/57/8/820

<i>Background and objectives:</i> This paper is a sequel to the studies that focused on the optimization of the structure of classical acrylates with vitamin B12 as a template and their impact on patients’ general and local health. In this context, we aim to investigate the relationships between attitudes and behavior regarding oral health, oral health status, and quality of life related to oral health in the case of patients with conventional dentures and those with dentures improved with vitamin B12. <i>Material and Methods:</i> The sample size was estimated from previous studies, and 252 participants were enrolled and divided into two groups, one of which received as a treatment complete dentures with B12, and the other group was represented by complete edentulous patients treated with conventional complete dentures. The impact of oral health in general on patient satisfaction and quality of life was assessed using Oral Health Impact Profile OHIP-14 questionnaires. The descriptive statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0. A value of <i>p</i> < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. <i>Results:</i> Differences registered between the two groups were statistically significant in all evaluated dimensions. The largest differences were recorded for physical, psychological, and social disability as well as for the level of disability, all in favor of denture B12 wearers. <i>Conclusions:</i> The materials used in the treatment of complete edentation can be a future research direction that can not only improve their mechanical strength but can contribute to maintaining the superior health of the oral mucosa and can also be a way of transporting substances necessary for the normal development of the metabolism of the whole body, such as vitamin B12 in our case.