Complete edentulism and related factors … Edentulism is defined as the loss of all permanent teeth (1) and is the terminal outcome of a multifactorial process involving biologic processes (caries, periodontal disease, pulpal pathology, trauma, oral cancer) as well as nonbiologic factors related to dental procedures (access to care, patient’s preferences, treatment options etc.) (2) . Poor oral health has been shown to have a negative effect on peoples overall health and quality of life (2,3) . Edentulism remains an important public health problem worldwide (2) . It is an often overlooked public health issue, especially for those over 65 years of age, and has been associated with changes in food taste, food preferences and nutritional deficiency (4) . The loss of teeth can impair function, esthetics and phonations and is restored most of the time with prosthesis. Although preventive dentistry helps protecting teeth, the demand for prosthodentic treatment is expected to rise even in developed countries as a result of a rapid increase in their elderly population (1-3) . Many countries are facing an aging population, which will cause a ratio of individual over 65 years of age up to 50% in the coming decades. The number of edentulous patient even in countries with a high standard of dental health care is significant (1-3) . According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Oral Data Bank the prevalence of edentulism older than 65 years was shown as 58% in Canada, 41% in Finland and 46% in the United Kingdom (5) . Sulaimani Dental Journal © 2015 108 Kawan Salahaddin Othman 1 , Dana Mustafa Abdulla 2 & Kamil Karim Muhhamad 2 1 B.D.S, M.Sc, Ph.D (Prosthodontics). Lecturer of Prosthodontics. Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medical Science, University of Sulaimani, Iraq. 2 B.D.S, M.Sc (Prosthodontics). Lecturer of Prosthodontics. Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medical Science, University of Sulaimani, Iraq. Cite this article as: Othman KS, Abdulla DM, Muhhamad KK. Complete edentulism and related factors among patients visiting prosthodontics department clinic of School of Dentistry - University of Sulaimani. Sulaimani Dent J. 2015;2(2):108-112. Introduction: Correspondence to; Dr. Kawan S. Othman kawan.othman@univsul.edu.iq Received: August, 2015 Accepted: October, 2015 Published: December, 2015 Complete edentulism and related factors among patients visiting prosthodontics department clinic of School of Dentistry - University of Sulaimani Sulaimani Dental Journal SDJ Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of complete edentulism and associated factors among patients visiting prosthodontics department clinic of School of dentistry Sulaimani University, in order to plan for future oral health care provisions for the society, collecting epidemiological data on oral health particularly related to prosthodontics and its related issues. Materials and Methods: The samples comprised 280 completely edentulous patients, who attended University of Sulaimani School of dentistry prosthodontics department clinic, patients questioner filled out which covered their age, gender, reasons for edentulousness, medical history, and presence of previous denture and the reason of not using it. The patients were divided in to four age groups; Group I (40-49) years, Group II (50-59) years, Group III (60-69) years, and Group IV 70 years and above. The relationship between the variables were investigated then evaluated. Results: The results showed that 155 (55.4%) of the patients were males and 125 (44.6%) of the patients were females. The majority of the patients were from age group III (60-69) years, while minority of the patient were from age Group I (40-49). Tooth decay was the major cause of edentulousness (75.4%), while periodontitis constitutes only (24.65) of the cases. Among the total number of participants only (35%) of them were have systemic problems, 61.2% suffered from hypertension, 29.6% were diabetic, and only 9.2% of the patients have cardiovascular problem. Finally, the results revealed that from 280 patients 164 (58.6 %) have previous dentures, poor retention (48.2%), fracture (31.7), tooth wear (12.2%), discomfort (4.2%), and stability (3.7%); were the reason of not using these dentures. Conclusions: An effective relationship between age, gender, tooth decay, periodontal disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease with edentulism is present. Keywords: Complete edentulism, complete dentures, prosthodontics.