A Survey on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Denture Care among Elderly Patients

As the elderly population grows, removable dentures remain an essential, viable, and economical option for replacing missing teeth. Enhancing patient understanding of denture care is essential for better oral and systemic health. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of denture hygiene care among the geriatric denture users. A paper-based survey study was conducted on denture wearers aged 60 years old and above. Eligible participants, identified via convenience sampling, received a validated self-administered questionnaire about knowledge, attitude and practice of denture care that was translated into several languages. The study included 138 denture wearers, of which 60.9% were female and the remaining 39.1% were male. All participants cleaned their dentures at least once a day using mechanical (50.7%), chemical (25.4%), or combination methods (23.9%). Approximately 29.7% of the participants wore their dentures overnight. The mean knowledge score was relatively poor (46.5%) and was significantly associated with the denture cleaning method used, nocturnal denture use, and frequency of denture cleaning (p < 0.05). No association between a patient’s gender and educational level and their attitudes and practices of denture care was observed (p > 0.05). In conclusion, geriatric denture wearers were showing a low knowledge score and were significantly associated to their denture hygiene protocols and the habit of nocturnal denture use. Enhanced knowledge delivery to elderly patients is essential to ensure a sustenance of good attitude and practices in denture hygiene.