Relationship Between Masticatory Function Impairment and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of Edentulous Patients: An Interventional Study

Purpose To investigate the influence of impaired masticatory function on the oral health-related quality of life of conventional complete denture wearers before and after the transition to implant-retained mandibular overdentures. Materials and Methods Masticatory function and oral health-related quality of life were evaluated in 40 edentulous patients after 3 months of adaptation to complete dentures and after transition to implant-retained mandibular overdentures. Masticatory function was evaluated through the swallowing threshold test with a standardized portion of an artificial test food (Optocal) to determine median particle size (x50) and homogenization index (B). After the test, the masticatory function outcomes were used to categorize patients in 2 groups according to chewing performance: (i) satisfactory or (ii) unsatisfactory. The cutoff value for x50 was based on a preestablished value of 3.68 mm, whereas for the B index, median values were adopted for categorization. The oral health-related quality of life was analyzed via the Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous Adults (OHIP-EDENT) questionnaire. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare masticatory function outcomes and OHIP-EDENT scores, and associations were checked using the Spearman correlation test and multiple linear regression. Results Masticatory function was significantly correlated with functional limitation (p = 0.02) and physical disability (p = 0.04) for complete denture wearers with unsatisfactory masticatory function. After the transition to implant-retained mandibular overdentures, only the psychological discomfort domain (p = 0.02) was influenced by the masticatory function category. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that only the functional limitation domain (p < 0.001) of the complete denture wearers was associated with masticatory function outcomes. Conclusions Implant-retained mandibular overdentures eliminate the problems that lead to functional limitations, consequently improving masticatory function and oral health-related quality of life of these individuals; however, patients with unsatisfactory masticatory function after transition to implant-retained mandibular overdentures still experience more psychological discomfort.