M.M. House Mental Classification Revisited: Intersection of Particular Patient Types and Particular Dentist’s Needs

Abstract: Fifty-three years ago, M. M. House devised a classification of patients on the basis of how they behaved in response to the prospect of becoming edentulous and on how they subsequently adapted to wearing complete dentures. Although House’s system was an important contribution, it failed to consider the dentist’s emotional reaction to a patient’s behavior as part of an understanding of how the patient and doctor cope with the dental treatment. This article presents an expansion of the House classification to include the behavior of the dentist as a codeterminer of the patient’s behavior. This expanded classification system is based on empiricism and awaits scientific validation or clinical application to determine its ultimate validity, reliability, and effectiveness.