Faiz Rasul, Asad Ullah, Rafi Ullah Awan, Safdar Baig, Maria, Sadaf Tanveer.
Determinants of not Availing Oral Prosthesis in Low Income Country-Pakistan: a Cross Sectional Survey in Lahore Population.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(3):1059-62.

Aim: To determine reasons of not getting oral prosthesis among partial or complete edentulous individuals in the general population of Lahore. Methodology : This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at de’Montmorency college of Dentistry; Lahore, after the approval of Institutional Review Board , ethical consideration was taken for this survey. Duration of this survey was six weeks and comprised of 97 individuals who have one or more missing teeth. Both gender having age between 20-80 years were included in this study. After taking their informed verbal consent, a structured questionnaire was administered to obtain data about the socioeconomic position, economic restrain, health seeking behavior, guidance of dentist at time of extraction, and other reasons of not availing prosthesis were determined by The dichotomous scale yes or not. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 50.5876, SD+/-15.03174. Male 59.8% and 40.2% were female. Monthly 20000 < 50000) of 30.9 % and more than 500 00 but less than 100000 Pakistani Rupees per month of 32%. Among them 51.5% were rural background and 48.5% belongs to urban settings. Majority were literate 52.6% and remaining illiterate 47.4%. descriptive analysis shows majority people avoid prosthesis due to perceived fear of infection, perceived fear of discomfort with the prosthesis, fear of cleaning hurdle by the prosthesis, no importance of prosthesis, no perceived need of the prosthesis, no access to hospital, plate and wire of the prosthesis and no guidance of the dentist at time of extraction. A significant association was observed between not availing prosthesis and unacceptability to artificial teeth (0.012). Conclusion: In low income country like Pakistan awareness regarding dental health education and early diagnosis need to enhance to prevent tooth loss and in the individual who have undergone for any tooth extraction need to visit general dentist and prosthodontics for tertiary prevention (rehabilitation and limitation of disability). Myths and misconceptions regarding prosthesis ought to reduce by health education.

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