ABSTRACT
Aim: The present cross-sectional study following the STROBE guidelines was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among males, females, and eunuchs residing in Bhopal city, Madhya Pradesh India. Materials and Methods: Based on convenient non-probability snowball sampling technique, all the self-identifi ed eunuchs residing in the city of Bhopal who were present at the time of examination and who fulfi lled the selection criteria were examined. A cross section of the general population (males and females) residing in the same locality where these eunuchs live was also examined. The World Health Organization (WHO) oral health assessment proforma (1997) was used to collect the information on oral mucosal lesions. All the obtained data were analyzed by using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Results: Overall prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was 127 (19.9%) among the study subjects. Fifty-nine (28.5%) eunuchs, 56 (25.7%) males, and 12 (5.6%) females were observed to have some oral mucosal lesions. Oral submucous fi brosis (6.4%), leukoplakia (5.5%), and traumatic ulceration (4.2%) were the major oral mucosal conditions observed. Conclusion: The information presented in this study adds to our understanding of the common oral mucosal lesions occurring in the eunuch population. Efforts to increase patient awareness of the oral effects of tobacco use and to eliminate the habit are needed to improve the oral and general health of eunuchs.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to assess the oral health practices, status and treatment needs of the rural elderly in national capital territory of Delhi. An effort was also made to identify patterns of utilization of dental services and test alternate strategies for service provision. A total of 96 elderly subjects (47 males and 49 females) in 5 rural areas were interviewed and clinically examined using Basic Oral Health Survey criteria of W.H.O. This was followed by a community trial in which the 5 villages were divided into control and test groups. Results of the survey found that both traditional as well as modern oral health practices co-exist in the rural community. Dental services were available to a majority (mostly through private sector), and edentulousness was a condition of primary concern among the elderly as a result of unmet treatment needs for dental caries and periodontal diseases. Age was a variable that was statistically significantly associated with edentulousness (p=0.005). Results of the community trial showed that higher utilization of care can be achieved by providing on-site dental care as compared to referring cases to tertiary care centers. Nevertheless provision of treatment alone is not a suitable policy recommendation since many elderly did not avail care even at on-site community dental health programmes that were operated free of cost. This emphasizes the need of health education over treatment in order to empower the elderly, especially the non-ambulatory patients, to practice prevention and develop favourable attitudes towards accepting prompt treatment at primary health care level.
Subject(s)
Age Factors , Aged , Attitude to Health , Community Health Services , Delivery of Health Care , Dental Care for Aged/organization & administration , Dental Caries/therapy , Feasibility Studies , Female , Health Education, Dental , Humans , India , Male , Mouth, Edentulous/rehabilitation , Needs Assessment , Oral Hygiene , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Periodontal Diseases/therapy , Primary Health Care , Private Sector , Referral and Consultation , Rural Health Services/organization & administrationABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Dental Health Education programs among school children of different socioeconomic groups. The investigators made a visit to three different schools and studied 500 children. A ten items, open-ended, self-administered questionnaire was pretested on the primary and higher primary school children before and after an educational intervention. A second visit was made to one of the schools 1 year later and the same questionnaire was re-administered to those subjects who had participated in the original study. Results showed that although educational intervention was successful in improving the Dental health awareness of most children, the socioeconomic background is an important determinant for the same. Also, single-lecture technique seems to be inadequate in improving the knowledge of children in the long term.