Association of Dental Diseases with Oral Hygiene in School Children of Rural Rajasthan, India
Abstract
Oral diseases are health problem of industrialize well as developing countries because of its high prevalence. In developing countries these diseases are given less impotance because of scarcity of resources but when these dental diseases remain untreated it can cause permanent toothache and disability. It can increase school attendance and intern lead to complication and expensive treatment. A community based study was conducted in rural area of Jaipur district to find out the association of dental diseases with oral hygiene. From schools of Amer tahsil of Jaipur district 1600 students were examined for dental diseases and interrogated for oral hygiene. Association of oral hygiene with dental diseases like Dental Carries, Dental Fluorosis, Malocclusion and Periodontitis was found out with chisquare test. It was revealed that Dental diseases like Dental Carries, Dental Fluorosis, Malocclusion and peridontitis all are associated with oral hygiene. Mouth rinsing frequency and teeth cleaning frequency is inversely proportion in Dental Carries but is directly proportional in Dental Fluorosis, Malocclusion and Periodontitis
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Introduction
Oral health is fundamental to general health and well being, significantly impacting on quality of life.1 Ability to chew and swallow is a critical function required to obtain essential nutrients for the body.2 Oral diseases qualify as major public health problems owing to their high prevalence and incidence in all regions of the world and is one of the most costly diet and behavior-related disease. Childhood oral diseases, if untreated, can lead to irreversible damage, pain, disfigurement, more serious general health problems, lost school time, low self-esteem and poor quality of life. Delay in treatment not only results in aggravation of the disease, but also the cost of treatment is substantially escalated as a consequence.
In many developing countries like in India, access to oral health services is limited and teeth are often left untreated or are extracted because of pain or discomfort. Most of the time managing such problems is beyond the resources of many developing countries.3 Grass-root level health workers and doctors do not have adequate knowledge about oral hygiene and prevention of oro-dental problems. Such factors have resulted in poor oro-dental health of our population.4 Oral diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis, Periodontitis are global health problems in both the industrialized and developing countries and are increasing, especially amongst children coming from poorer communities.4 Malocclusion, and oral cancers constitute an important public health problem in India today.4 This present study was conducted to found association between oral hygiene practices and dental diseases in school children of rural Rajasthan.
Conclusion
Dental diseases like Dental Carries, Dental Fluorosis, Malocclusion and peridontitis all are associated with oral hygiene. Mouth rinsing frequency and teeth cleaning frequency is inversely proportion in Dental Carries but is directly proportional in Dental Fluorosis, Malocclusion and periodontal diseases. This was further supported with that although Dental Carries were less common in children who clean their teeth with tooth powder and tooth paste but other three increases with the use of tooth powder and tooth paste.