Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding prosthodontic rehabilitation and factors affecting the patients visiting private clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Prosthodontic rehabilitation maintains the esthetics, functional support, and the masticatory function of the oral cavity. The main aim of the present study was to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards prosthodontic rehabilitation and factors affecting the KAP of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present research is a cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire study conducted among the patients visiting private hospitals in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. The city was divided into five directions; south, north, east, west, and central. From each direction, one hospital was included randomly with more than 50 patients in OPD per day. The interview was conducted among 121 patients from each hospital which made the sample size of 605. RESULTS: Among all study participants in the present study, majority (252 [41.67%]) of them were more than 50 years of age. Female study participants (318 [52.57%]) were more than (287 [47.43%]) the male participants. It was reported that 458 (75.70%) of the study participants have missing teeth ranging from 6 to 10. The main reason reported for absence of prosthesis was money constraints among the 121 (38.90%) study participants. Inadequate knowledge regarding prosthodontic rehabilitation was significantly associated (P-value ≤ 0.05*) with attitude and practice of the study participants. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that financial constraints were the major factors for not availing prosthodontic rehabilitation. Moreover, inadequate knowledge regarding prosthodontic rehabilitation significantly affects the attitude and practice of the study participants.