Changing trends of prosthetic rehabilitation of partially edentulous patients visiting a tertiary care dental hospital

INTRODUCTION: The choice of prosthetic replacement is largely determined by the patient's choice and economic status, available technology and expertise, as well as the number of missing teeth. The aim of this study was to identify the trend in prosthetic replacement, in partially edentulous patients treated at Riyadh Elm University (REU) hospitals, as well as to investigate the factors that might influence the prosthetic choice. METHODS: The records from Dentoplus digital system of all partially edentulous patients who had a prosthetic replacement at REU 2013, until June 2018, were screened and analyzed using Statistical software SPSS version 25. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were performed. Alpha level was set at ≤0.05. RESULTS: 6,340 patients received implants, removable or fixed prosthesis. Majority of the patients were females (60%). RPDs were the highest placed restorations (69%). Students (73%) placed most RPDs. Implants significantly increased through the years by almost (30%) (P-value = 0.00). Among FPDs, metal-ceramics were the highest restorations (74%), with a significant increase of all-ceramic restorations through years (P-value = 0.00). Moreover, FPDs were significantly the highest restorations among young-adult and middle-aged patients (P-value = 0.00). CONCLUSION: There was a clear change in prosthetic rehabilitation trends over the past few years. Although removable partial dentures continued to play a major role in prosthetic teeth replacement, the use of dental implants showed a steady increase every year. Students’ requirements and level of experience, along with the patient age, had an influence in the prosthetic choice.