Urban India has seen dramatic improvements in per capita income, life expectancy and educational levels in the past 100 years. This should translate to better awareness and utilisation of prosthodontic treatment options. The aim of this study was to gauge the veracity of the above hypothesis.
Methods:
A total of 1200 subjects visiting two dental teaching hospitals were randomly selected and administered a questionnaire and clinical examination. Data including distance of patient residence from hospital facility, subject desired prosthodontic treatment, prosthodontist’s assessment of required treatment & disparity between perception and assessment were collected, evaluated and statistically analysed utilising Graph Pad Prism Software with α = 2 and p < 0.05.
Results:
49.41% of the subjects visiting the hospitals disagreed with professional advice. The reasons recorded for this included lack of awareness (38.69%), financial constraints (20.24%) and clinical limitations (32.14%) (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
A significant disparity was found between professional prosthodontic advice and patient desired management. Lack of understanding or communication between the prosthodontist and patient may have lead to this. The deficit may be overcome by awareness programs in the hospital set up and more time spent by the prosthodontist with the patient.