Prosthetic Status and Demand for Services in an Adult Rural Population in Relation to Dental Service Infrastructure in Mangalore Taluk, South India

Context: Oral health can be considered as an indicator of general health and quality of life. Planning dental services is therefore the collection of up to date information on the prevalence of oral health status in a given population. Aims: This study was conducted to assess prosthetic status and demands for services among the rural population in Mangalore Taluk. Method and Material: A cross sectional survey was carried out on 1312 participants aged 18 years and above. Sixteen gram panchayats were selected and asurvey was conducted to determine the prosthetic status and prosthetic need. Results: Complete denture prosthesis was predominantly high among the age groups above 61. Removable partial denture was predominantly high among the age groups 31-45. Fixed partial denture was high among age groups 46-60. Conclusions: Irrespective of the age, gender and education the need for Multi unit prosthesis was found to be significantly high.