The Impact of Subject Age, Gender, and Arch Length on Attitudes of Syrian Dentists towards Shortened Dental Arches.

Mohammad Zakaria Nassani,Elizabeth Jane Kay,Bassel Tarakji,Tammam Ibrahim Al-Nahhal,Omar Kujan

doi:10.1155/2015/643176

Mohammad Zakaria Nassani, Elizabeth Jane Kay + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/643176

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Abstract

Objective. This study aimed to investigate the impact of subject age, gender, and arch length on dentists' attitudes towards unrestored shortened dental arches. Materials and Methods. 93 Syrian dentists were interviewed and presented with 24 scenarios for male and female subjects of different ages and shortened dental arches of varying length. Participants were asked to indicate on a standardized visual analogue scale how they would value the health of the mouth if the posterior space was left unrestored. Results. A value of 0.0 represented the worst possible health state for a mouth and 1.0 represented the best. The highest mean value (0.73) was assigned to a shortened dental arch with missing second molar teeth in the mouth of a 70-year-old subject. A 35-year-old female subject with an extremely shortened dental arch (all molar and premolar teeth are missing) attracted the lowest mean value (0.26). The statistical analysis indicated a significant decrease in the value placed on unrestored shortened dental arches as the number of remaining teeth decreased (p < 0.008). While subject gender had almost no impact on dentists' attitudes towards shortened dental arches, the scenarios for the older shortened dental arch subjects attracted significantly higher values compared to the scenarios for the younger subjects (p < 0.017). Conclusion. Subject age and arch length affect dentists' attitudes towards shortened dental arches, but subject gender does not.

Highlights

The shortened dental arch (SDA) concept aims at maintaining a functional dentition for middle-aged and elderly patients by concentrating treatment efforts at preservation and restoration of the strategically important parts of the dentition, that is, the anterior and premolar teeth, and avoiding extensive restorative treatment in the molar sites [1]
Participants were asked to indicate on a standardized visual analogue scale how they would value the health of the mouth if the posterior space was left unrestored
In order to test the hypothesis of no significant differences in dentists’ attitudes towards SDAs of varying arch length, the t-test for paired observations was used

Summary

Introduction

The shortened dental arch (SDA) concept aims at maintaining a functional dentition for middle-aged and elderly patients by concentrating treatment efforts at preservation and restoration of the strategically important parts of the dentition, that is, the anterior and premolar teeth, and avoiding extensive restorative treatment in the molar sites [1]. Clinical studies have indicated that SDAs in which the anterior and premolar teeth are retained ensure adequate oral function in terms of chewing ability, aesthetics, stability of the dentition, temporomandibular joint function, and oral health-related quality of life [5,6,7,8]. In line with the SDA concept, the World Health Organization adopted as a goal for dental health “the retention throughout life of a functional, aesthetic, natural dentition of not less than 20 teeth and not requiring a prosthesis” [9].

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Conclusion