Awareness and attitudes of partially dentate patients about replacement of missing teeth

Abstract

Introduction: Loss of a body part creates feelings of embarrassment and insufficiency in dealing with daily life activities, and loss of teeth is no exception. Other than cosmetic reasons, patients develop many attitude changes as well as altered dietary habits. Replacement of missing teeth creates further dilemmas for patients which need to be explored further.
Objective: To determine the awareness and attitudes on replacement of missing teeth among partially dentate patients presenting to Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at the department of Prosthodontics, Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar, from January to September 2019, on 100 patients selected by non-probability consecutive sampling technique. Subjects were partially dentate, age above 18 years, both genders and Pakistani nationals. Mentally handicapped subjects, individuals having relation with dental profession, and completely edentulous were excluded. Demographic data like age, gender, socio-economic level, educational level, and Kennedy classification were collected. Questions regarding knowledge and attitude to replacing missing teeth were asked. Descriptive statistics were computed by SPSS 20. Chi-square test was used for analysis of results by age, gender, educational level, and socio-economic status; p≤0.05 was considered significant.
Results: The mean age was 42.18 ± 8 years. Overall, 10% were not aware of their missing teeth and 32% did not feel the need for replacement of missing teeth. Most common reason for non-replacement of missing teeth was financial (49%). The most common treatment option for replacement of missing teeth among our sample was removable denture (33%). Overall, 27% participants reported that regular visits were not necessary. The effect of age, socio-economic level, educational level and pattern of missing on awareness of replacement of missing was statistically significant (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Awareness about replacement of missing teeth in partially dentate patients is comparatively low in our sample. There is a need to improve the awareness through digital and print media.