Oral hygiene status, oral hygiene practices and periodontal health of brick kiln workers of Odisha.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the oral hygiene status, oral hygiene practices, and periodontal health among brick kiln workers of Odisha.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four hundred and eight subjects (300 males and 108 females) between the ages of 22 and 65 years with mean age of 33.44 ± 2.34 years working in various brick kilns in the district of Khordha, Odisha, participated in the survey. Data were collected through personal interview and clinical examinations.

RESULTS

Overall prevalence of periodontal diseases among brick kiln workers was 86.27%. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of Community periodontal index (CPI) ( < 0.001) and loss of attachment score scores ( < 0.001). Periodontal disease was significantly associated with age, oral hygiene status, practices, and tissues abuse habits. Most of the workers were males (59%), in the age group of 30-40 years (40.69%), having only a primary level of education (75.98%) and were married (80.88%). Majority of the workers brushed their teeth once daily (78.9%) with toothbrush (51.5%) and used toothpaste (41.2%). Most of them were found to be consuming paan or gutkha as compared to cigarette or beedi smoking. Among the subjects with a CPI >2, higher prevalence of periodontal disease was seen in subjects older than 50 years of age (86.7%), those brushing once daily only (75.2%), brushing with finger (82.8%), with higher frequency and duration of consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and having a poor oral hygiene (85.5%).

CONCLUSION

The survey among brick kiln workers revealed that the oral hygiene status was poor, they had ill-informed oral hygiene practices and most of them were suffering from periodontal disease.