Comparative Study of Oral Hygiene Among Urban and Urban Slum Dwellers of Ahmedabad

Aims and Objectives: To compare the oral hygiene practices and study the proportion of dental problems among urban and urban slum areas. Methodology: An observational, cross sectional study was carried out in 150 people in urban and urban slum areas. The study duration was four months (June 2015 to September 2015). The data was collected in a pre-designed proforma. The knowledge of the community was considered with regards to oral hygiene and harmful effects of bad food habits and tobacco consumption. The oral problems and hygiene was assessed by using mouth mirror and probe. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 24.0 Software. Results: Out of the total data collected, 75 of the data entries were obtained from urban area and urban slum area each. The age wise distribution was done as well in both the areas. Among them, most common age group was 20-45 years (50.7% in urban while 48.0% in urban slum) followed by 10-19 years, 46-60 years, 1-9 years and 60and above age group. The common symptoms observed like broken teeth (28%), gingivitis (13.30%), caries (21.10%) etc. were more in urban as compared to urban slum areas. Most common brushing practice was using paste (90%) followed by powder (10%) and salt (1%). More number of people in urban area (28%) consumes carbonated drinks as compared to urban slum (6.7%) (P value = 0.001). The proportion of sensitive teeth was more in urban (36%) as compared to urban slum (26.7%) (P value = 0.126). Most of the people in urban as well as urban slum area (97.3%) change their brush within 15 days-3 months. Conclusion: The proportion of gingivitis, dental illness, grinding teeth, sensitive teeth are more commonly seen in urban areas as compared to that of the urban slums. However, the proportion of bleeding gums, awareness regarding dental problems, frequency of brushing teeth and pattern of brushing were almost similar in both of the areas.