BackgroundIt is increasingly recognized that the impact of disease on quality of life should be taken into account when assessing health status. It is likely that tooth loss, in most cases being a consequence of oral diseases, affects Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL). The aim of the present study is to systematically review the literature and to analyse the relationship between the number and location of missing teeth and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). It was hypothesized that tooth loss is associated with an impairment of OHRQoL. Secondly, it was hypothesized that location and distribution of remaining teeth play an important role in this.MethodsRelevant databases were searched for papers in English, published from 1990 to July 2009 following a broad search strategy. Relevant papers were selected by two independent readers using predefined exclusion criteria, firstly on the basis of abstracts, secondly by assessing full-text papers. Selected studies were grouped on the basis of OHRQoL instruments used and assessed for feasibility for quantitative synthesis. Comparable outcomes were subjected to meta-analysis; remaining outcomes were subjected to a qualitative synthesis only.ResultsFrom a total of 924 references, 35 were eligible for synthesis (inter-reader agreement abstracts κ = 0.84 ± 0.03; full-texts: κ = 0.68 ± 0.06). Meta-analysis was feasible for 10 studies reporting on 13 different samples, resulting in 6 separate analyses. All studies showed that tooth loss is associated with unfavourable OHRQoL scores, independent of study location and OHRQoL instrument used. Qualitative synthesis showed that all 9 studies investigating a possible relationship between number of occluding pairs of teeth present and OHRQoL reported significant positive correlations. Five studies presented separate data regarding OHRQoL and location of tooth loss (anterior tooth loss vs. posterior tooth loss). Four of these reported highest impact for anterior tooth loss; one study indicated a similar impact for both locations of tooth loss.ConclusionsThis study provides fairly strong evidence that tooth loss is associated with impairment of OHRQoL and location and distribution of tooth loss affect the severity of the impairment. This association seems to be independent from the OHRQoL instrument used and context of the included samples.

Age and loss of teeth can be expected to have a complex relationship with oral health-related quality of life. This study aimed to explain how age and tooth loss affect the impact of oral health on daily living using the short form, 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) on national population samples of dentate adults from the UK (1998 UK Adult Dental Health Survey) and Australia (1999 National Dental Telephone Interview Survey). After correcting for key covariables, increasing age was associated with better mean impact scores in both populations. Those aged 30-49 years in Australia showed the worst (highest) scores. In the UK, those aged under 30 showed the highest scores. In both countries, adults aged 70+ showed much better scores than the rest (P < 0.001). When corrected for age, the independent effect of tooth loss was that the worst scores were found where there were fewer than 17 natural teeth in the UK and fewer than 21 teeth in Australia. People with 25 or more teeth averaged much better scores than all other groups (P < 0.001), although there were differences in pattern between countries. When Australians were analysed by region of birth, the pattern of scores by tooth loss for British/Irish immigrants was strikingly similar to that for the UK sample. First-generation immigrants from elsewhere showed much worse overall scores and a profoundly different pattern to the Australian- and British-born groups. Age, number of teeth and cultural background are important variables influencing oral health-related quality of life.

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A longitudinal clinical trial involving 103 subjects was undertaken to assess the impact of oral implant therapy on the psychosocial well-being of subjects with complete denture wearing problems. There were four experimental groups: (1) an implant group, where subjects were edentulous/edentate in one jaw and requested and received implants to retain an oral prosthesis (IG); (2) subjects edentulous/edentate in one jaw requesting implants but who received conventional dentures (CDG1); (3) edentulous subjects requesting replacement of their dentures by conventional means (CDG2); (4) dentate subjects requiring routine treatment, who were included for comparison. Data were collected in each group pre- and post-treatment using validated oral specific [the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)], and generic (the SF36) health status measures. Subjects in IG, CDG1 and CDG2 also completed a denture satisfaction scale. IG and CDG1 subjects reported that tooth loss and denture wearing problems had a much greater impact on their quality of life than subjects seeking conventional dentures. Dentate subjects had a much better oral health status compared with denture-wearing subjects. Following treatment, subjects who received implant-retained prostheses (IG) reported a significant improvement in satisfaction and health-related quality of life, as did subjects who requested and received conventional dentures (CDG2). Subjects who requested implants, but received conventional dentures (CDG1), reported little improvement in denture satisfaction and only modest improvement in their quality of life. None of the denture-wearing subjects reported health-related quality of life that was as good as that of dentate subjects. The findings have significant implications in the assessment of outcomes in future clinical trials.