Subjective prosthodontic treatment need, tooth loss and associated factors among dental patients in Dar es salaam, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: A full complement of teeth has been shown to be a prerequisite for a healthy masticatory system and satisfactory function and having tooth loss can be undesirable. OBJECTIVE: To determine the subjective prosthodontic treatment need, tooth loss and associated factors among patients attending dental clinics in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among subjects with tooth loss aged 18 years and above attending public dental clinics in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. A questionnaire and clinical examination were used to obtain data. Chi-Square test and logistic regression analyses were performed and a p-value of ≤0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Majority of the 402 participants were aged 18–34 years (52.2%), females (64.9%) and with primary level of education or less (52.2%). Subjective prosthodontic treatment need was indicated by more than half of the participants 54.2%) and those who lost 4 or more teeth and those who lost teeth upper anterior had higher odds of expressing subjective treatment need (OR=2.6; CI=1.5–4.3 & OR=4.9; CI=2.2–10.8 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that having four or more missing teeth and having tooth loss in the anterior location of the upper jaw were significant contributing factors in expressing patient's subjective prosthodontic treatment need.