Dental caries; frequency and determinants among patients attending dental out patient department in Bahawal Victoria hospital Bahawalpur

ABSTRACT

To find out the prevalence and determinants of dental caries among patients attending dental OPD. Descriptive Cross sectional study. Dental out Patient Department, Bahawal Victoria Hospital and period was August till November, 2010. Data was collected with the help of predesigned Questionnaire. A Convenient sample of 05 eligible respondents was examined on daily basis till completion of sample size. Caries was assessed by using DMFT scale. Analysis of data was carried out with the help of computer SPSS version 11. Chi square test was used to see the association between different variables,[brushing at night, daily brushing, sugary food intake] define the variables. The level of significance was taken as p<.05. Among study population [52%] were male and [53%] were urban dwellers. Dental caries was present in 97% of the patients and DMFT Score increased with increase in age. Commonly associated habits [with carries] included lack of daily brushing of teeth [P<.01], lack of brushing at night [p<.001], and daily intake of sweets [p<.005]. Frequency of dental caries was high with advancing age. Significant relationship of Dental Caries was found with oral hygiene and surgery foods