Denture hygiene awareness, attitude and practice among complete denture wearers during COVID-19 lockdown Pandemic: A questionnaire based survey

OBJECTIVE: To determine the denture hygiene habits in complete denture wearers during Covid-19 lockdown in Assam state. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to know the attitude of the patients regarding denture hygiene. The study sample consisted of 150 subjects, which included 63 (42%) males and 87 (58%) females. RESULTS: 50.7% of individuals said that they have knowledge about denture cleansing methods, while only 40% individuals clean their dentures once daily. After education through an online survey, most individuals started practicing three times or at least two times. After educating two members in the same family, all subjects were cleaning either twice or thrice. All subjects were either using brushing or combination methods. CONCLUSION: Poor condition of complete dentures seen in the population is mainly due to lack of knowledge and irregular cleansing habits. Dentists must give proper instructions and do regular follow-up regarding maintenance of denture hygiene.