DOI: 10.36347/sjds.2020.v07i08.001

Pages: 95-102

Background: Tooth loss affects the oral function, physical appearance, psychological well-being and social life of a person. The use of dental prosthesis therefore becomes necessary. However, the full acceptance and use of this treatment plan has not been fully realized due to factors such as limited knowledge on oral care and tooth replacement, poverty, dental anxiety, sociodemographic location and the beliefs of people. Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine the awareness and practice of tooth replacement among older Ghanaian adults. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 consenting participants of age 50 years and above living in the Accra Metropolitan District in Ghana. The participants were selected using random sampling technique. The collected data were responses of structured questionnaire asking participants about the awareness and practices of tooth replacement. Data was captured using Microsoft Access and analyzed using descriptive statistics (to obtain means and frequencies) and Chi square tests from the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 22.The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: The prevalence of tooth loss and total edentulism was 66.0% and 3.0% among participants respectively. There was 90.0% awareness on tooth replacement among participants and 82.0% responded positively towards the practice of tooth replacement. This study revealed that 18.0% of subjects have utilized dental prosthesis of which 94.4% opted for removable dentures. Conclusion: Tooth loss and awareness on tooth replacement were high among majority of participants. The use of dental prostheses was low among participants. Majority of participants perceived dental prosthesis as not necessary and moreover financial constraint was a key reason for non-use of prosthesis among participants. Increased education and improved socioeconomic status is therefore necessary to enhance the practice of tooth replacement.....