Al-Sultani H F F, Breckons M, Field J, Thomason J M, Moynihan P. Development of patient-centric eating advice for complete denture wearers. Gerodontology 2022; DOI: 10.1111/ger.12618. Online ahead of print.

A patient-centric evidence-based patent leaflet on eating with dentures is likely to be well received.

Focus groups, two with purposive samples of patients and two with dental professionals, explored experiences and opinions about advice on eating with complete dentures. Findings were distilled with evidence from the literature to underpinned concepts for eating interventions. User engagement informed prioritisation of ideas and led to the development of a leaflet on eating with dentures. Patients receive no advice on what they can realistically expect when eating with dentures, and professionals lacked confidence to provide eating advice. Patients did not think dentists a credible provider of eating advice, feeling peer support more appropriate and offering numerous strategies for eating with dentures. Concepts for eating intervention included a patient leaflet, web-based eating interventions, patient support blogs, waiting room videos and improved nutrition training for dental professionals. User feedback informed prioritisation of ideas, leading to the development of a leaflet on eating with dentures. Justified by the data, the leaflet focused on patient-generated tips for overcoming the functional limitations of eating with dentures, and unobtrusive healthier eating advice. Face validity with users confirmed acceptability.