Edentulousness among Patients Visiting a Dental Unit of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Edentulousness (partial or complete) is a sequel of tooth loss and is an indicator of the oral health status of a population. Edentulousness has a series of deleterious consequences for oral and general health. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of edentulousness among patients visiting the dental unit of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on hospital records of patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine and Prosthodontics of a tertiary care centre from 1 January 2019 to 30 December 2019 to see the prevalence of edentulousness. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 077/ 078 /40). A convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among 4697 patients, edentulousness was found in 403 (8.58%) (7.78-9.38, 95% Confidence Interval). Partial edentulous were 263 (65.30%) and complete edentulous were 140 (34.70%). Of the total partial edentulous patient, Kennedy's class III found in 200 (76.05%) was the most common pattern followed by Kennedy's class I in 32 (12.17%), class II in 21 (7.98%) and class IV in 10 (3.80%) patients respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of edentulousness was similar to other studies done in similar settings. Since edentulousness is a preventable problem, it should be addressed with high priority. Keywords: dental health service; edentulous mouth; Nepal; prevalence.

Maxillary anterior teeth dimensions and proportions in a central mainland chinese population.

OBJECTIVES: To obtain maxillary anterior tooth dimension and proportion values for the Central Chinese population and to evaluate the existence of sexual dimorphism, any consistent relationships between the tooth ratios, and the presence of golden proportions. METHODS: Tooth dimensions and proportions of six maxillary anterior teeth were recorded on gypsum casts obtained from 147 subjects (82 women and 65 men). Of these, 115 casts were digitally photographed in a standardised manner and apparent width values for six maxillary anterior teeth were recorded for golden proportion analysis. Existence of sexual dimorphism, any consistent width/height ratio and golden proportions were statistically analysed. One-sample t-test, two-sample t-test, and paired t-test were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between measurements on the right and left side. Sexual dimorphism existed for various tooth dimensions. There was no statistically significant difference for width/height ratios between the two genders for central incisor and lateral incisor. However, canines showed a statistically significant difference. The golden proportion guideline was not applicable for this population. CONCLUSION: The maxillary anterior teeth dimensions were significantly greater for men than women; however, the mean difference was small (< 0.2 mm) and may not be clinically significant. The golden proportion, or any recurring anterior teeth proportions, was not found for the population. There was a significant difference in width/height ratio of canines between the genders, confirming its greatest gender-based morphological difference.