ABSTRACT
The object of study was to appraise oral hygiene status of school-children of 6-years and 12-years in both public and private schools selected from nine different towns of Karachi city. An observational type of analytical cross sectional study of 1600 school-children, belonging 6 years and 12 years of age, were conducted among nine different towns of Karachi city. Sampling selection was based on cluster sampling technique. At the first stage, nine towns out of total eighteen towns were selected randomly. In the next stage, from each selected town one private and one public school were identified randomly. Selected sample of school-children were examined for plaque and gingivitis by using Loe and Silness plaque and gingival index. The overall plaque index score of the sample was found to be more than three fourth [n=1373, 85.8%] with the mean value of 1.18 [ +/- 0.73], indicating fair levels of plaque presence among school-children. Age wise plaque index scores were found to be statistically significant but gender wise statistically non-significant results were found [p?0.53]. The overall gingival index scores of school-children was found to be more than one fourth [n=445, 27.8%] with mean value of 0.43 [ +/- 0.77], reporting mild gingivitis among the study sample. Both age and gender wise mean gingival index was found to be statistically significant. Moreover, oral hygiene status [plaque and gingival index] were reported statistically significant among private and public school- children. This study suggests that more than half of the school-children had presence of dental plaque, whereas more than one third of them had mild gingivitis. This highlights the need for an unmet dental care services as well as community oriented health education and promotion in order to induce primary and primordial mode of prevention among school going children
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, premalignant condition of the oral mucosa and one of the commonest potentially malignant disorders amongst the Asian population. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of etiologic factors with: age, frequency, duration of consumption of areca nut and its derivatives, and the severity of clinical manifestations. METHODS: A cross-sectional, multi centric study was conducted over 8 years on clinically diagnosed OSMF cases (n = 765) from both public and private tertiary care centers. Sample size was determined by World Health Organization sample size calculator. Consumption of areca nut in different forms, frequency of daily usage, years of chewing, degree of mouth opening and duration of the condition were recorded. Level of significance was kept at P < or = 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 765 patients of OSMF were examined, of whom 396 (51.8%) were male and 369 (48.2%) female with a mean age of 29.17 years. Mild OSMF was seen in 61 cases (8.0%), moderate OSMF in 353 (46.1%) and severe OSMF in 417 (54.5%) subjects. Areca nut and other derivatives were most frequently consumed and showed significant risk in the severity of OSMF (P < or = 0.0001). Age of the sample and duration of chewing years were also significant (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: The relative risk of OSMF increased with duration and frequency of areca nut consumption especially from an early age of onset.