Denture Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Mukah Division, Sarawak

Objective:  To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice in relation to use of denture(s) among adults in Mukah Division. Method: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered validated questionnaire was conducted on a total of 335 adults in two urban and two rural districts in Mukah Division. Analysis was carried out using SPSS v.21. Result: About 20% of the subjects perceived that all their sound and unsound dentition needed to be extracted for denture construction. Almost 70% of these subjects were from the rural districts of Matu and Daro, while about 30% were from urban districts. About 13% responded they would seek to extract all their sound and unsound teeth to have a denture. Of these, 65% were from the rural districts of Matu and Daro. Overall, subjects from these two rural districts had a significantly poorer knowledge and attitude on the use of denture(s) (p<0.001). This finding was significantly associated with the subjects’ socio-economic status (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that significantly more rural than urban subjects in Mukah Division had poor knowledge and attitude in relation to denture use. Strengthening public education on the use of dentures is recommended towards improving the oral health of rural populations.