Screening of edentulous patients in a dental school population using the prosthodontic diagnostic index

Abstract

The aim of this study was to classify a number of completely or partially edentulous patients who attended undergraduate clinics at the Dental School of Athens using the prosthodontic diagnostic index (PDI) to identify the complexity of the cases treated by the students. There is a scarcity of studies, concerning prosthodontic patients and screening them according to a classification system such as the PDI. The survey was conducted on 181 patients who attended the clinics for treatment. The PDI categorised the patients into four classes (Class I-IV) according to the severity of certain diagnostic findings. From the 110 completely edentulous patients, 27 patients were in Class I, 21 in Class II, 15 in Class III and 47 in Class IV. From the 71 partially edentulous patients, two were in Class I, 17 in Class II, 29 in Class III and 23 in Class IV. Our results showed that the majority of patients were categorised in Class III (partially edentulous) and IV (completely edentulous). This indicates the need to introduce a proper screening tool, such as the PDIs, during the initial examination, to achieve a successful treatment.