A study to assess hearing loss in dental and edentulate patients

Introduction
Hearing is a process, through which humans understand, process, and respond to different sound waves. Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions of elderly adults that hampers their basic daily activity. Studies show influence of various risk factors in age-related hearing loss, and few studies observed an association between tooth loss and hearing acuity.

Objective
The present study evaluated the relation between edentulous and dentate patients and their hearing loss.

Material and methods
This in-vivo study was conducted in Department of Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, Department of Speech and Hearing at our institute, among a total of 52 subjects, including dentulous patients (n = 26) and completely edentulous patients (n = 26). These patients were subjected to pure tone audio¬metry. Data in the study followed non-parametric distribution based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, and to compare means in both the groups, Mann-Whitney U test was applied.

Results
Air conduction thresholds and bone conduction levels between both the groups were found to be statistically significant. PTA (pure tone average) scores of both the groups over the right and left ears were statistically significant, with p-value = 0.000. Based on the findings, we could conclude that loss of teeth does have an impact on hearing.

Conclusions
Hearing impairment due to tooth loss can result from compression of the Eustachian tube by overclosure of mandible and decrease in the transfer of vibration to the ear canal for every tooth unit lost. Tooth loss affects hearing regardless of the use of full dentures. This study highlights the importance of the presence of teeth, and every effort should be made to prolong their presence in the oral cavity in a healthy state. This could have a positive impact on hearing, nutritional status, and quality of life of individuals. Quantitative data may help in providing proper support with respect to clinical interventions, and thus reducing the risk of hearing loss.