Attitude and Knowledge of the Awareness of Missing Teeth and its Effect among Partially Edentulous Patients

Edentulism is debilitating and irreversible condition. Edentulism remains the major condition worldwide especially among adults. It is described as the final marker of the disease burden. Bone loss is ongoing process following tooth loss. Edentulism leads to resorption of the alveolar bone which in turn changes the soft tissue profile and facial appearance. Mastication is also affected by edentulism. AIM: To evaluate the awareness of missing teeth and its effects on general and oral health among partially edentulous patients reporting to our institute. Material & Method: This institution based cross sectional study was done in 2016 from January to May. Sample size estimated from the cross reference was 180. PICO: Population was the patients reported to the OPD of Department of oral diagnosis and radiology with one or more missing teeth. Intervention was the identification of partial edentulism, questionnaire filling for their awareness,counselling for the need for prosthesis. Expected outcome was increase in awareness of patients towards their partial edentulism, need of prosthesis and prosthesis options available. Conclusion: 98.9% of the participants were aware about partial edentulous condition. 31.7% had partial knowledge and 68.3 % had complete knowledge of edentulous condition. This was confirmed by clinical examination. 48.3% had difficulty in mastication followed by aesthetics and speech problems. However about 27.2% subjects agreed that they didn't have any complaint due to missing teeth.