Partial Edentulism and its Association with Socio-Demographic Variables among Subjects Attending Dental Teaching Institutions, India

BACKGROUND Despite advances in preventive dentistry, edentulism is a major public health issues worldwide. Edentulism is an enervating and unrepairable condition and is described as the "final marker of disease burden for oral health." The objectives of the present study are to determine the relationship between socio-demographic variables and partial edentulism, and to evaluate the prevalence of various classes of partial edentulism by using Kennedy's classification. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in an institution, on randomly selected individuals. The study group included adult patients who attended the outpatient Department of Prosthodontics during February-April 2015 formed the study participants. Data were collected by using a pre-formed pro-forma and Chi-square test was used to explore the relationship between two variables. RESULTS A population comprised of 384 individuals between the age group of 18 and 35 years. Of these, 204 (53.12%) were males and 180 (46.88%) were females. Two hundred and eighty eight individuals were partially edentulous showing a prevalence rate of 75%. 51.04% of the study subjects were lost their teeth because of periodontol disease. 73.4% belonged to the upper middle class and 75.4% were in lower middle class in partially edentulous subjects. 45.8% had a fair oral hygiene status. Kennedy's class III was the most common type of partial edentulism in upper jaw and lower. CONCLUSION The present study concluded that prevalence of partial edentulism among the study population was high. They need community-based oral health programs to increase the awareness and reduce the risk of tooth loss.