Original Article

Year : 2020 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 1 | Page : 11 - 5

Dental Caries‐Related Quality of Life and Socioeconomic Status of Adult Population in Perambur, Chennai

H. Soniya, N. Nagappan1

Graduate Student, Thai Moogambigai Dental College, and Hospital, Mogappair, Chennai, 1 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Chettinad Dental College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Introduction:

Oral health has a major role in the general well-being of a person. Oral health problems can have wider social, economic, and psychological concerns, thereby affecting the quality of life. Oral health‐related quality of life indicates an individual’s perception of how their well‐being and quality of life is influenced by oral health. The aim of the study is to determine the oral health‐related quality of life and the association between dental caries socioeconomic status (SES) of adult population in Perambur, Chennai.

Materials and Methods:

The study sample consists of 200 adults and a questionnaire comprised ten questions related to oral habits and Kuppuswamy scale (modified for year 2015) to evaluate oral health-related quality of life and SES of adults in Chennai.

Results:

The oral health of an individual and their SES was analyzed and found that upper middle class females were commonly affected with dental caries than other class females. The most commonly affected tooth with dental caries was upper right 1st molar followed by lower left and right 1st molar.

Conclusion:

This study showed that there is a strong relationship between the SES and oral health. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of assessing oral health‐related quality of life in the clinical practice so that the clinicians can easily identify the actual difficulties faced by the patients due to oral problems and formulate appropriate treatment plan and goals.

Keywords: Dental caries, Kuppuswamy scale, oral health, quality of life, socioeconomic status

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article: Soniya H, Nagappan N. Dental caries-related quality of life and socioeconomic status of the adult population in Perambur, Chennai. Int J Soc Rehab 2020;5:11-5.