A five-year long follow-up of a cohort of dental crowns studied by the self employed

Summary Aim: Assess the quality and sustainability of fixed prosthesis reimbursed by the health insurance for self-employed workers. Methods: The inclusion of patients, made in 2003, was based on prosthodontics billings submitted for reimbursement. 300 self-employed workers from 23 French regions were included in the cohort. During the period between 2003 and 2008, the follow-up consisted of sending a questionnaire to the patients’ dentists annualy, and by analyzing the patients’ oral health consumption. It was finalized and made reliable through the convening of patients by the dentists health advisors in 2008. Results: 10357 crowns were included in 2003 for 7051 recipients with a mean age of 51 years. In over 22% of cases, the teeth were already carrying dental prosthesis and more than three quarters of the sample teeth crowned were molars. During the follow-up, 563 crowns were deposited, 61.8% due to extraction (mainly justified by fractures). Only 62.8% of these deposited crowns (extraction excepted) were renewed. Survival analysis, performed on the crowns included alone, showed that in 7.3% of cases the crown was no longer in the mouth after five years. Conclusion: This analysis permitted to understand the crowns making conditions and nature, and at the same time to estimate the success rate at five years of this therapy. Prat Organ Soins. 2012;43(2):121-129