[Survey of treatment-seeking complete denture wearers concerning tooth loss, retention behavior and treatment expectations].

The aim of the current study was to gather information about time and etiology of tooth loss, and to analyze the reasons for treatment needs with a questionnaire used among edentulous patients. 60 patients (age 44-98 years) who requested dental treatment were included. More than half of the patients were edentulous before the age of 60, in almost all cases the maxilla was affected first. This difference was more pronounced in women, who experienced tooth loss in the maxilla 17 years prior to the mandible. At the time of edentulism women were about ten years younger than men. According to patients'report, periodontal disease was the most common reason for tooth loss. In the mandible, prosthesis retention was influenced by alveolar ridge resorption, while in the maxilla there was no relation between the amount of resorption and perceived retention. This indicates that maxillary prostheses retention is influenced by other factors besides the alveolar ridge morphology. So, permanent intake of drugs potentially causing xerostomia was related to poorer assessment of prostheses retention in the upper jaw. The results of the questionnaire "Patient satisfaction related to prosthetic restoration" before treatment indicated that the general satisfaction with the existing complete denture in the mandible was influenced by functional problems and the impairment of patients'self-confidence (R-squared = 0.754). The main reason for requesting treatment was the poor retention of the lower denture. More than half of the participants stated that they refrained from eating certain foods due to a reduced chewing ability.