The questionnaire consists of 12 questions related to use and appearance of the dentures.
NOTE: The original questionnaire used replies of "Yes" or "No". I have used a 5-point Likert scale.
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1, 2, 3
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4
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5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
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12
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Points
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always
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none
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never
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excellent
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0
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most of the time
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few
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infrequently
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good
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1
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sometimes
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some
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sometimes
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fair
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2
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infrequently
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many
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most of the time
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poor
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3
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never
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all solids
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always
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bad
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4
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total problem score =
= SUM(points for all 12 questions)
number of items at each level =
= (number of items scored at a given level)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 48
• The higher the score and the higher number of items with level 4 responses correlate with a patient having problems.
Observation by authors on the original questionnaire:
(1) The questionnaire was unable to separate those with satisfactory and unsatisfactory dentures because of overlap in responses. However, the authors only recorded responses for each question, rather than tallying them.
(2) Patients with dentures usually generate less bite force than those with native dentition. Some of this is may be due to weakness of the jaw muscles.
Limitations:
• A patient with complete dentures may have multiple problems in addition to the dentures, such as TMJ dysfunction, depression or comorbid conditions.
