Bhatt, Sumeet and *, Rajesh G and Rao, Ashwini and Shenoy, Ramya and Pai, Mithun B.H. and Nayak, Vijayendra (2017) Factors infl uencing Oral Health and Utilization of Oral Health Care in an Indian Fishing Community, Mangaluru City, India. World Journal of Dentistry, 8 (4). pp. 321-326. ISSN 0976-6006

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Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess factors infl uencing the oral health and utilization patterns of oral health services by fi shermen community in Mangaluru city, Karnataka, India. Materials and methods: A house-to-house survey was conducted among 840 individuals in fi shermen population. Oral health status was evaluated by employing the World Health Organization basic oral health survey form. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess patterns of utilization of dental services and their sociodemographic details. Results: Mean decayed, missing, and fi lled teeth (DMFT) of the population was 3.78 ± 6.02 and prevalence of caries and periodontal conditions was 55 and 99% respectively. About 55% participants had never visited a dentist. Age, gender, and education of the respondents showed signifi cant associations with DMFT status. Periodontal health showed signifi cant association with age, gender, education, and income of the respondents. Visit to the dentist was associated with age, gender, education, and dental caries. The major barrier recognized in seeking dental care was the perception of not having any dental problem. Conclusion: The dental care utilization was poor, and majority of the dental visits were for tooth extraction. Lack of perceived oral health care need was the main barrier to the utilization of dental services. Clinical signifi cance: The fi shing population had high dental caries and poor periodontal health due to low utilization of dental care.

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