Cent Eur J Public Health 2008, 16(2):77-84 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3448

Tobacco Habits and Oral Health Status in Selected Indian Population

Sajith Vellappally1, Vimal Jacob1, Jindra ©mejkalová1, Pilathadka Shriharsha2, Vinod Kumar3, Zdeněk Fiala1
1 Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
2 Department of Dentistry, University Hospital in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
3 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Amrito School of Dentistry, Kochi, India

This cross-sectional study was aimed at possible relationships between tobacco habits and selected behavior characteristics in an adult sample from India. Contemporaneous clinical examination comprised an intra-oral examination with specific emphasise to dental caries status in the form of DMFT (Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth) index. The study comprised 805 subjects in the age group from 30 to 69 years (72% of males and 28% of females). The participants were divided into regular smokers, occasional smokers, ex-smokers, tobacco chewers and non-tobacco users. The highest prevalence of oral mucosal lesions were found in tobacco chewers (22.7 %) followed by regular smokers (12.9 %), occasional smokers (8.6%), ex-smokers (5.1%) and non tobacco users (2.8%) (p < 0.001). The mean number of decayed teeth was highest in tobacco chewers (6.96) followed by regular smokers (6.44) and ex-smokers (5.5) (p < 0.001). The mean number of missing teeth was highest in the group of regular smokers (1.9) and lowest in non-tobacco users (1.53), but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.529). The mean number of filled teeth were highest in the group of tobacco chewers (3.67) followed by regular smokers (3.29) (p < 0.001). DMFT value of tobacco chewers, regular smokers and ex-smokers is higher when compared to non-tobacco users (p < 0.001). The study documents that chewing tobacco and smoking can present significant risk factors for dental caries. However, the conclusions are burdened by some limitations. Further studies for investigation of the effect of tobacco using on dental caries are needed.

Keywords: oral health, smoking, tobacco chewing, oral hygiene habits, DMFT, dental caries

Received: August 31, 2007; Revised: February 7, 2008; Accepted: February 7, 2008; Published: June 1, 2008  Show citation

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Vellappally S, Jacob V, ©mejkalová J, Shriharsha P, Kumar V, Fiala Z. Tobacco Habits and Oral Health Status in Selected Indian Population. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2008;16(2):77-84. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3448. PubMed PMID: 18661810.
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