RESUMO
This survey was done to evaluate awareness of various treatment modalities forreplacing single missing tooth among the people of western Maharashtra. Wewanted to assess gender wise awareness of patients regarding fixed dentalprosthesis as a treatment modality for replacement of missing tooth.METHODSThis cross-sectional study was done on 150 subjects visiting the dental college usinga self-administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was pre-testedthrough a pilot survey. Data was evaluated using version 16.0 of the SPSS. ChiSquare test and ANOVA were used as test of significance at p < 0.05.RESULTSOut of 150 subjects, 87 were males and 63 females. Around 64% of the subjectswanted to replace missing tooth due to difficulty in masticatory function; yet 14%knew the importance of aesthetic and speech as well. All subjects preferred fixedprosthesis for replacement of missing tooth, but higher cost of the procedure andfear of surgical trauma were the main factors for not undergoing implant treatment.Dental professionals were the main source of information about different treatmentprocedures followed by media.CONCLUSIONSThere is a strong level of awareness among the subjects about the fixed treatmentprocedure, but more than half of the subjects did not have knowledge about theimplants. It also revealed the need to provide the subjects with more knowledgeabout this treatment modality. Dental awareness is therefore necessary in order tocultivate a positive attitude towards dental implants amongst the community