Oral health status and treatment needs of individuals residing in Amritsar (Punjab) branch of all India Pingalwara Charitable Society

To assess the oral hygiene, periodontal status & caries experience of individuals with special health care needs.

200 individuals (both males& females), aged ≥18 years were examined in present study. Specially designed proforma was used to collect the data about oral hygienes dental caries by using OHI-S, CPITN & DMFT index.

200 subjects comprising 75 (37.5%) males & 125 (63.5%) were examined. Sixty one (30.5%) of total subjects had psychological disorder, 42 (21%) were mentally retarded, 43 (21.5%) were physically handicapped & 54 (27%) included other systemic diseases. About 79 (39.5%) performed brushing independently & 121 (60.5%) with help of caretaker which showed statistically significant difference (p<.05) across gender. One hundred seventeen (58.5%) had poor oral hygiene while only 6 (3%) had good oral hygiene. Result of CPITN index showed that 54.5% had score 2, followed by score 3 - 26.5%, while minimum value was shown by score 1 - 0.5%. Only 16% were caries free with mean DMFT score of 8.75±6.7 & 8.32±5.9 for males &females respectively.

The present study highlighted that the oral hygiene & periodontal status of study population is poor with high caries prevalence. These findings suggested extensive unmet needs for dental care.