Acceptance of Removable Partial Denture for Replacement of Missing Teeth among Partially Edentulous

Abstract

Objective: To assess the acceptance of removable partial denture among partially edentulous undergraduates.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data for the study was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 2 sections: the first section sought demographic information (age, gender and marital status) while the second section consisted of 10 questions that tried to find out the prosthetic status of the respondents’ missing teeth, awareness of options for replacing missing teeth, preferred treatment options, acceptance of RPD as a treatment option and perception towards the use of RPD for replacement of missing teeth.

Results: More than half (56.1%) of the participants had missing anterior teeth while the remaining 43.9% had their posterior teeth missing. Most (60.5%) of the participants had a form of replacement for their missing teeth. More than half (51.6%) of the respondents stated that RPD was the more common treatment options for replacing missing teeth while 23.6% and 24.8% felt RPD was not common and were indifferent respectively.

There was statistically significant association between gender and preferred treatment modality for replacing missing teeth (p=0.02) with a higher proportion (66.1%) of male respondents preferring RPD while 32.6% of female respondents preferred implants. There was statistically significant association between preferred treatment modality for missing teeth and perception of RPD as a form of treatment (p=0.0001) with 66.3% of those who preferred RPD having the perception that RPD was a good form of treatment for missing teeth.

Conclusion: Undergraduate students seem to accept removable partial denture as a viable treatment option for replacing missing teeth. The low cost and less time associated with removable partial denture are reasons adduced for its acceptance. More male undergraduates accepted removable partial denture compared to females who preferred implants.)

Keywords: Undergraduates, Removable partial denture, Missing teeth