Attitude And Preference For Replacement Of Missing Teeth In Completely Edentulous Patients Visiting Department Of Prosthodontics At Goenka Research Institute Of Dental Science, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; A Cross Sectional Survey

Replacement Of Missing Teeth In Completely Edentulous Patients

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the attitude towards replacement of teeth among patients who reported to the department of prosthodontics in Goenka research institute of dental science, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Material and Method: A ten-item, closed-ended questionnaire was completed by 120 volunteer patients who were completely edentulous. Collected data were analyzed. The age of the subjects selected were more than 30 and divided into three groups. Results: Among these 120 patients, 35.83% of the patients gave financial constraints as the reason for not replacing teeth; 20% reported that they lacked the time to have teeth replaced; 28.33% had low felt needs; and 15.83% indicated they did not know that teeth could be replaced. The findings indicate that awareness needs to be increased regarding the other functions of teeth like esthetics and phonetics because many subjects in this study were aware of the function of mastication performed by teeth. Results shows 65% patients were illiterate, 23.33% patients got primary education, 11.66% patient studied till high school and no patient got higher education. Conclusion: Attitudes of patients should be taken into consideration to improve patient compliance with and acceptance of prostheses. [Shetty M Natl J Integr Res Med, 2020; 11(2):97-100]