Survey on Availability and usage of Denture Adhesives in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study

Performance of dentures can be improved by making use of adjuncts like denture adhesives (DA), which act by enhancing the retentive and stabilizing properties of a denture. DA have been a subject of controversy despite the advantages associated with their use. If used appropriately, they could provide additional benefit to denture wearers especially in terms of comfort, better chewing ability as well as boost their confidence level and could also be a benefit to the clinicians prescribing them. The objective of this study was to look into the types and forms of DA commonly available in the markets and the response of people towards using them in two cities of Malaysia.This was a cross sectional study where two surveys were conducted using a standardized questionaire. The first survey was to enquire from the pharmacies regarding the availability and sales of DA in the cities of Johore Bahru and Klang Valley. In the second survey the denture wearers were questioned regarding usage including the frequency of use, and their approach towards DAFrom the first survey, 98% of the pharmacies were found to be selling denture adhesives which were available in cream, powder and cushion form. Polident Complete Comfort DA, Protefix, Fittydent and Steradent were the most commonly sold DA among these pharmacies, with sales of Polident being upto 98%. In the second survey, where all denture wearing patients were in the range of 40-85 years age, it was inferred that only 5.8% of all denture wearers were using DA. All DA users preferred to use cream form and frequency of placement was once (44.4%), or twice (22.2%) a day.Denture Adhesives are commonly available in Malaysian markets. However, usage and awareness regarding these products is relatively low among the population in Malaysia.