Vol. 10, Issue 3, Part D (2024)

Introduction: Tooth loss caused by recurrent caries, traumatic incidents, endodontic complications, or periodontal diseases is an important event that may lead to functional disability of the masticatory system. To our knowledge, there is little data available on the knowledge and attitude of the various prosthodontic treatment modalities for the replacement of a single missing tooth in the population of Mumbai. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of the patients with a single missing tooth regarding the three different prosthodontic treatment alternatives.
Materials and Methods: Patients reporting with a single missing tooth were considered eligible for the study. A sample size of 200 subjects was calculated to be adequate enough to generalize the results to a larger target population.
Result: The total number of participants was 200. Duration of missing teeth: 55.5% of the study participants had the tooth missing for less than 6 months, 24% for less than a year, 16.5% for between 1 to 5 years, and 4% for more than 5 years. 52% of the participants did not get the tooth replaced because they lacked awareness about the importance of prosthodontic therapy. A statistically significant difference was noted in the duration of missing teeth wherein females exhibited a higher frequency of teeth missing for more than five years.