Abstract

To determine the most frequent type of removable prostheses requested by patients who presented to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital outpatient clinic a descriptive retrospective study was carried out for all patients attending the Prosthodontic out patient clinic, who requested for removable prostheses from January 2004 - October 2008. The source of data was the clinic’s log book and patients’ case notes. Exclusion criteria are; request for obturators, mouth guard and palatal feeding plates for cleft lip and palate patients. Data of interest were: sex, age, edentulous space to be restored and reason for restoration. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences version 13.0 and presented as a simple frequency table. A total of 351 cases were seen during the study period. This was made up of 188 (53.6%) males and 163 (46.4%) females. The age ranges were < 20 years (1.4%), 21 - 40 years (68.9%), 41 - 60years (19.9%) and 61 - 80years (9.8%).  Edentulous spaces restored in these patients were Kennedy’s class III (57.3%), Kennedy’s class IV (26.2%), Kennedy’s class I and II (0.9%), Kennedy’s class III with modifications (5.7%), Kennedy’s class II with modifications (1.4%), Kennedy’s class I with modifications (1.7%) and complete dentures (6.0%). The main reason for seeking replacement was aesthetics (89.2%). The most common removable prostheses requested by patients who attend the University of Benin outpatient clinic was Kennedy’s class III, with aesthetics being the main reason for restoration of edentulous space.

Key words: Edentulous, Kennedy, aesthetics.