Patients' knowledge and understanding of the implications of wearing dentures. Report of a survey conducted at a dental institute in the south of India.

Aim: The aim of this survey was to assess the knowledge and perceptions of denture treatment among a group of patients who attended the Karnataka Lingayat Education Society's (KLES) Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, Karnataka State, India.

Method: A questionnaire with four general questions and 14 statements/questions about denture construction and wearing was developed and piloted. Ethical approval was sought and granted. After some revisions, the questionnaire was given to all patients attending KLES over a two-month period.

Results: All 423 patients who attended KLES in the two-month period completed the questionnaire. Five questionnaires were not analysed because of ambiguity in the answers. The final patient sample was 418 (207 females and 211 males, mean age 40 +/- 15.3 years) of whom 140 (33.5%) were dentate and 278 (66.5%) edentulous in either one or both jaws. Among the 278 edentulous patients, 143 (51.4%) had not worn any kind of denture and 135 (48.6%) wore dentures. There was a wide variation in the accuracy of the patients' knowledge of denture treatment. In particular, more than 20% did not know that complete denture treatment requires five or more visits, that denture wearers may experience oral pain, whether or not dentures may cause more problems than natural teeth, or that dentures may make audible clicks and cause problems when speaking.

Conclusion: Patient education is an essential element in successful denture treatment. It should begin prior to the treatment, to ensure that the technical capability of the clinician matches the expectations of the patient. The initial appointment needs to be used as an educational tool to raise patients' level of understanding of prosthetic rehabilitation and how the proposed treatment will meet their needs.