Psychosocial and Behavioral Impact of Three Clinical Presentations of Oligodontia in a Tertiary Hospital.

Purpose: To investigate the psychosocial and behavioral impact of oligodontia across three presentation types and determine if presentation type can infer impact.

Materials and methods: Thirty patients who had been diagnosed and treated for oligodontia between 2006 and 2021 were identified from hospital records. Patients received two questionnaires: (1) a modified version of a condition-specific questionnaire- the Cleft Research Questionnaire (CRQ), used to investigate demographic, life, and treatment details and impacts-and (2) the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), used to investigate the oral health-related quality of life. Patients were assigned to three presentations (Types 1 to 3) of oligodontia, identified according to the edentulous space present and complexity of prosthodontic treatment required. The hypothesis that there is a relationship between oligodontia type and study variables was tested.

Results: Twenty-two questionnaires were completed and returned. There were 13 men and 9 women. The age range was from 16 to 32 years. In total, 18 patients had nonsyndromic oligodontia and 4 had oligodontia associated with anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (AED). The main areas of impact were patient-reported: life less satisfying (64.5%, n = 14; pretreatment), making friends (45%, n = 10), school participation (45%, n = 10), and public speaking (45%, n = 10). No relationship was discovered between the degree of physical effect of the presentation type and study variables, including the degree of psychosocial impact or life satisfaction.

Conclusions: Oligodontia can have a negative functional and social impact on a patient prior to prosthodontic treatment. Prosthodontic treatment improved the life satisfaction for most patients. Psychosocial outcomes could not be inferred by the presentation type of oligodontia.