Awareness and knowledge of various options for treatment of missing teeth in patients at a speciality dental hospital in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Background: To replace missing teeth there are several options. Only few patients are aware of all the available options. Aims and Objectives: To know the awareness and knowledge of options for treating missing teeth among patients who visited to Neodent Dental Hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana State. Materials and Methods: A crosssectional, questionnaire was designed and distributed to the 100 edentulous patients visited to Neodent Dental Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana State from January 2015 to December 2015. The data was collected and analyzed statistically for number and percentage using EPI-Info statistical software version 6. The questionnaire included personal details of the patients i,e. age, sex, education and marital status and also about know the awareness and knowledge of patients to replace the missing teeth and the preference of replacement options. Results: The age of patients ranged ranged between 21-65 years. 150 patients were included in the study, out of which, 76 were females and 74 males. The number of patients awareness of treatment options was 112 (74.66 %), 85 (56.66%) and 20 (13.33 %) patients were aware for removable partial denture, fixed partial denture and implants respectively. Conclusion: We found that the patients awareness for diverse treatment options for missing teeth was low. Hence, measures should be taken to increase the awareness regarding replacement for missing teeth.