Classifying Completely Edentulous Patients Using the Prosthodontic Diagnostic Index

Objectives: To use the Prosthodontic Diagnostic Index (PDI) to assess and assign fully edentulous patients to students at a dental school in Basrah, Iraq. Material and Methods: This study was conducted on 300 completely edentulous patients who were treated at the teaching outpatient dental prosthetic clinic of a dental school in Basra city, republic of Iraq during the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. Based on the complexity of the diagnostic results, the edentulous patients were divided into four groups (Class I–IV). Maxillomandibular relationship, muscle attachments in the mandibular arch, residual ridge morphology of the maxillary arch, and mandibular bone height were measured in panoramic radiographs. Results: 7.5% of patients were categorized as Class IV when using the PDI classification. Out of the various PDI criteria, 10% of the patients had Class IV mandibular bone heights of 10 mm or below, whereas 15% of the patients had Class III mandibular bone heights of 11–15 mm. Class I was assigned to 65% of the patients based on the maxillary residual ridge morphology, and 25% of the patients were categorized as Class I or II according to their Type A mandibular muscle attachment requirements. 60% of the patients had a Class I maxillomandibular relationship. Conclusion: Class I (severely impaired) patients made up the bulk of the study's subjects. For undergraduate students to handle fewer complex cases (Class I and II) and prosthodontists or specialist centers to handle more complex cases (Class IV), it is necessary to classify edentulous patients based on PDI during the initial screening phase. This will prevent the need for expensive and time-consuming complete denture remakes.