Characteristics of Patients Attending Prosthodontic Clinic in Ile–Ife, Nigeria

Objective: The study was done to evaluate the personal motivation, attitude, socioeconomic characteristics and satisfaction with the outcome of treatment of patients attending a teaching hospital prosthodontic clinic. Methods: All patients attending prosthodontic clinic of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife and who consented to be interviewed were included in the study. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire after the insertion of the appliance. The questionnaire consists of 3 sections which are; demographic and socio-economic status, source of referral and primary motivation for the decision to request treatment, and patients comments concerning the prosthetic treatment. Results: Ninety-three patients participated in the study, out of which 54 (58.1%) were male and 39 (41.9%) were female. 35.6 % belonged to class III socioeconomic class. Only 20 (21.5%) of respondents volunteered to disclose their income per annum for various reasons and only 10 % earn more than N 500,000 ($350) while the remaining 18 (90%) earn below N 400,000 ($280). 61.3% had post secondary education while 8.6% had no formal education. 63% came on their own for treatment without any referral, 26.9% were refered from hospitals while only 9.7% were encouraged to seek treatment by their relatives. Aesthetics alone accounted for 49.5% of the reasons for seeking treatment while only three came through advise by others. 91.4% were satisfied with the treatment given, 6.5% were indifferent while 1.1% were not satisfied. Conclusion: Aesthetic alone was the motivating factor while patients seek dental prosthetic treatment irrespective of their socio-economic class. Majority of the patients that seek prosthetic care are well motivated, highly educated and belonged to middle socio economic class.