Prosthetic dental treatment needs in Northern Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the prosthetic treatment needs of an adult population in Al-Ahsa Area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: A sample of adults attending the King Fahad Hospital Dental Center, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were examined for prosthetic treatment needs utilizing the World Health Organization criteria during 1999. Statistical analysis system was utilized to generate frequencies, means and standard deviations, and various statistical tests were carried out.

RESULTS: A total of 435 adults, 192 (44.1%) males and 243 (55.9%) females with a mean age of 47.7 (standard deviation 15.4) years were examined for prosthetic treatment needs. About two-thirds (64.8%) of the sample were in need of an upper denture. A significantly higher number of males (68.8%) needed an upper denture as compared to the females (61.7%). About three-quarters (73.8%) of the sample were in need of a lower denture. The need for lower denture was similar among the males (75.0%) and females (72.8%). About one-sixth (17.2%) of the sample was in need of an upper bridge. A higher number of females (18.9%) needed an upper bridge as compared to the males (15.1%). About one-quarter (22.5%) of the sample was in need of a lower bridge. A higher number of females (25.5%) needed lower bridge as compared to the males (18.8%). The need for upper denture was similar in both urban (64.7%) and rural (65.1%) dwellers. The need for lower denture was also similar in both urban (73.2%) and rural (75.2%) dwellers. A higher number of rural dwellers needed an upper (20.2%) and lower (26.4%) bridge as compared to the upper (16%) and lower (20.9%) bridge in urban dwellers.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that more than one- quarter of the sample needs a denture. A significantly higher number of males needed dentures than females. More females were in need of a bridge as compared with males. A significantly higher percentage of urban population needed full dentures as compared with rural population.