Prevalence of Periodontal Disease and Oral Hygiene Practices in Kancheepuram District Population: An Epidemiological Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal disease status and oral hygiene practices in urban and rural population of Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. METHODS: This epidemiological survey was carried out on 1650 participants taken from both urban and rural areas of Kancheepuram District. The study groups will belong to rural and urban areas in the ratio of 1:2, respectively. Every individual was assessed with the oral hygiene index-simplified, community periodontal index of treatment needs and periodontal disease index. In addition, the oral hygiene practices were also studied and recorded in a specially designed pro forma. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 19.0 software. RESULTS: The study showed that 50% and 36% of the study participants have gingivitis and periodontitis, respectively, while only 14% of the study participants did not present with any form of periodontal disease. The study also showed that 16.63% of the study subjects among urban and 7.63% of them among rural do not have any type of periodontal disease. About 57.09% of the study participants among urban and 36.54% of the study participants among rural areas have gingivitis. The remaining 26.3% of the study participants in urban areas and 55.8% of the study participants in rural areas have periodontitis. It was observed that majority of participants brush once a day using Medium bristle tooth brush and toothpaste as dentifrice. CONCLUSION: Periodontal disease is widely spread among population of Kancheepuram District, with greater prevalence in rural population than in urban population. This could be mainly due to the lack of awareness and limited availability of resources. These estimates are vital for the future planning of dental services in Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India.