Influence of dental prostheses on the quality of life of older adults

Introduction: aging is a phenomenon present throughout the life cycle, from the beginning to end of life, where the use of dental prostheses may have a great impact on the quality of life. Objective: to determine the influence of the use of dental prostheses on the quality of life of the older adult patients treated in the private dental clinic Dental C&S Dr. Luis Fernando Criollo, located in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Method: a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 23 elderly people selected by non-probabilistic sampling. The information was collected by means of a survey validated by experts. It was analyzed the use of total prosthesis, time of use, chewing problems, easily misaligned and the causes, affectation of the buccal mucosa caused by chewing, time in taking food and its characteristics. Results: the use of total prosthesis was predominant (62.5%) in the adults studied and 59.1% of them referred have been using it for more than 2 years. The 59.5% reported chewing problems when using the prosthesis, 54.5% reported a frequent prosthesis misalignment, in which 50.0% of them reported the consumption of hard foods as main cause. The 56.5% of respondents was found with gums problem and they took approximately 40 minutes to eat their meals. Conclusions: the use of prostheses have a great impact on the quality of life of older adults, causing on them chewing problems and misalignment when eating hard foods, presenting lesions in the oral mucosa and taking more time to eat