Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding replacement of missing teeth among general population in Pune city

Abstract

Background: The replacement of missing teeth is important for the individual to return to the optimum ability of chewing, maintain muscle tone and esthetics thus enabling individual to improve the quality of life. Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding replacement of missing teeth among general population of Pune city. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire study was conducted among general population in Pune city. The structured, self- administered, close ended questionnaire was designed to collect the data and comprised of 30 questions related to knowledge, attitude and practice regarding replacement of missing teeth. The reliability statistics was calculated and Cronbach Alpha value was 0.685. Informed consent was taken from all the participants.Statistical analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Results: There were a total of 162 participants with the age group being 18 years and above. Majority of the participants (83.3%) felt the need for replacement of missing teeth. Majority of the subjects i.e. 56.2% stated that financial constraint or high cost was the prime reason for not getting their missing teeth replaced. Majority of subjects preferred fixed partial prosthesis to replace their missing teeth. Conclusion: The study concluded that the overall knowledge, attitude and practice of study participants regarding replacement of missing teeth were average.