Partial edentulousness in a rural population based on Kennedy′s classification: An epidemiological study

Edentulousness falls in a special category among the various conditions of dental origin. Tooth loss is the dental equivalent of mortality. A simple estimation of the proportion of the partial edentulous persons is a rough indication of the prevalence of dental diseases and the success or failure of dental care. The epidemiological features of partial edentulousness of one community or one village can be evaluated on the basis of a cross-sectional house-to-house survey. In this study a cross-sectional house-to-house survey was carried out at Herga village of Udupi District, Karnataka, India. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological features of partial edentulousness in the age group of 35-44 years in a rural population based on the Kennedy classification. Chi-square test was conducted and results were obtained and P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.