Awareness of different treatment options for missing teeth in patient visited at hamdard university dental hospital

The study was conducted to know the awareness, level of knowledge and attitude about teeth-re-placement options among patients who visited Hamdard University Dental Hospital for prosthodontic treatment. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to patients reported to Prosthodontics Department at Hamdard University Dental Hospital. Questions focused on the awareness to replace the missing teeth and the preferable methods of choice for replacement. Age limits of the participants ranged between 14-77 years. All the participants were partially edentulous excluding the third mo-lars. A total of 201 patients were examined, 114 were males and 87 females. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] version-16.Descriptive statistics i.e., frequencies were computed. Results of the present study showed that patient's awareness was 45% for fixed partial denture, 26% for acrylic removable partial denture, 17% for cast partial denture and only 4% for im-plants. The patients awareness for different treatment options for missing teeth was very low. So there is a need to increase the awareness about various dental prosthesis among patients need replacement for missing teeth. The oral health care providers have to play a vital role in this regard

Frequency of musculoskeletal discomfort among dentists in Karachi, Pakistan

The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency musculoskeletal pain and discomfort among the dental professionals. In this cross sectional study, the questionnaire based survey was done. A sample size comprised of 270 dental professionals who are working in different colleges, dental hospitals and private clinics of Karachi. This self-structured questionnaire was administered which consisted of 10 questions about pain in wrist, neck, back and shoulders that occur during dental procedures. The study showed that more than 90% of the dental practitioners are experiencing musculoskeletal pain and discomfort. Female dentists had a slightly higher frequency of pain and discomfort than the male dentists. Almost 42% of the dentists were suffering from backache, 23% had pain in neck and 14% had pain in wrist while 13% had shoulder pain. Back pain was the most common site followed by the neck. Dental professionals are most likely to have musculoskeletal pain and discomfort associated with their dental work due to lack of awareness regarding correct posture and lack of exercise