Gag Reflex: A Comparative Study Among Different Prosthodontic Treatment Modalities

Background: In routine prosthodontic treatment, prosthodontists may encounter patients having increased oral sensitivity to foreign objects, resulting in gagging. The present study was done to survey the patients with gag reflex needing prosthetic treatment. Materials and methods: This descriptive epidemiological investigation was conducted in the Department of Prosthodontics at College of Dentistry, Jazan in the month of March and April 2017. The patients undergoing prosthodontic treatment for replacement of teeth were selected for the study. Patients who came for the treatment of any type of prosthesis [Removable partial denture (RPD), Fixed partial denture (FPD) and / or Complete denture (CD)] were included in the study. A self-structured questionnaire pretested through pilot study was designed to verify the prevalence of gag reflex. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were obtained and frequency distributions were calculated. Chi-square test was done to compare the prevalence of gag reflex according to gender, type of appliances and health condition. Statistical significance for all tests was accepted at p < 0.05. Results: The study was conducted among 112 participants to assess the frequency of gag reflex and it was found that 49.1% of the subjects had problems of gag reflex. All the patients were distributed with different types of prosthodontic appliances such as; Fixed Partial Denture (FPD) (54.5%), Removable Partial Denture (RPD) (30.4%), Complete Denture (CD) (13.4%), and combination of (RPD and FPD) (1.8%). According to the type of appliance significant results were obtained, patients with FPD, had superior number of gag reflex cases [25(22.3%)] followed by RPD [18(16.1%)] and CD [12(10.7%)]. It was also found that female participants had higher cases of gagging (29.5%) as compared to their male counterparts (19.6%). According to the severity of gag reflex, the overall frequency of mild cases was mostly noticed (21.4%). Conclusion: From the study it was shown that patients undergoing fixed partial denture treatment are having more frequency of gag reflex, as compared to other groups.