Oral-health related quality of life in patients with removable dentures

The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) is an instrument to measure quality of life widely used in several countries (Bellini D, 2009; Montero-Martin J, 2009; Allison PJ, 1997). The purpose of the work is evaluate the relationship between the use of removal dental prostheses and quality of life of patients and contribute to the validation of the Portuguese version of the OHIP. A cross sectional study was performed between January 2013 and April 2014 at the clinic of FMDUP. The OHIP proved to be a good option to evaluate oral-health related quality of life dimensions, demonstrating that there's an urge need to validate this instrument in Portugal. Comparing to other countries, we obtained higher scores, meaning a worst perception of the quality of life. In 4 out of 7 dimensions, women referred a worst quality of life, suggesting that this group may require special concerns during the oral rehabilitation procedures.