Background: Evaluation of existing oral health services showed that it is predominantly urban oriented, mostly curative in nature and accessible mainly to small a part of population, i.e., privileged few. Periodontal diseases are more prevalent in a rural population than the urban population. The socio demographic profile is highly contrasting between the urban and rural population. It is essential to know whether these sociodemographic factors influence periodontal disease by comparing periodontal status of urban and rural population. Objective: The objective of the study is to assess and compare the periodontal status and treatment needs of rural and urban population in Tumkur district. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The sample consisted of 1500 subjects among which 750 subjects were selected from the rural population and 750 from urban population of Tumkur district. The data was collected by modified WHO oral health assessment form and clinical examination was conducted by using CPITN C probe. Results: It was found that the urban population had better periodontal health than rural population and this relationship was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: India is a country with a population having diverse culture, life style and religious beliefs which might influence the health status of the individuals significantly. Hence, it is necessary to conduct such surveys in different parts of the country and develop a strategy to improve the periodontal status of the population as a whole.

Objective The objectives of this study were to measure the level of dental anxiety and its correlation with dental history, denture satisfaction and other variables. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 completely edentulous patients reporting to the Department of Prosthodontics, KLES's Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, over a period of 17 months (August 2005 to March 2007). The anxiety level of the patients was assessed with the help of a questionnaire, after obtaining an informed consent. Reliability of the dental anxiety scale was assessed by means of coefficient alpha. Results The results of this study concluded that dental anxiety scale for edentulous patients was a reliable scale for measuring dental anxiety. The anxiety score was higher for female than male patients. A significant correlation was found between denture satisfaction score and anxiety. Discussion Anxiety plays a major role in denture satisfaction. The variables included: Previous denture experience, occupation, medical history, age, gender, dental anxiety scale, period of edentulousness, age of previous dentures, number of complete dentures, denture satisfaction score, and the score on the Hamilton anxiety scale Conclusion The study indicated that gender correlates significantly with dental anxiety. Patients with medical history were found to be more anxious than normal patients. Patients with higher anxiety values were less satisfied with the treatment. Lastly, subjects with higher general anxiety showed greater values on the dental anxiety scale. Clinical significance The assessment of dental anxiety will help the prosthodontist in the management of anxious patients and secondly to provide evidence-based research into this psychological construct which has been shown to predict dental avoidance. How to cite this article Shrivastava R, Srivastava R, Shigli K, Prashanth MB, Kumaraswamy BN, Nethravathi TD. Assessment of Dental Anxiety and its Correlation with Denture Satisfaction in Edentulous Patients. J Contemp Dent Pract 2012;13(3):257-260.