oral and dental health status in northeastern iran

background: esophageal cancer is one of the major malignancies around the world. it is the 8th high frequency cancer and the 6th leading cause of cancer death worldwide. the etiology of esophageal carcinoma is thought to be related to the exposure of smoking, alcohol, nitrate and low socioeconomic status. in this study, the status of oral health was evaluated in the population living in the north east of iran. materials and methods: 45862 inhabitants of gonbad and kalaleh districts, aged 40-75 years, who had no esophageal cancer, were included in the study, which was part of golestan cohort. oral health status and socioeconomic condition were evaluated by trained physicians. results: 19362 (42.2%) were male and 26490 (57.8%) were female (mean age was 52.1 â±9.1 years). the mean number of existent teeth, missed teeth, decayed teeth and filling teeth were 13.3 â± 9.4, 18.4 â± 9, 4.7 â± 6 and 0.23 â± 1.1 respectively. there were significant relationship between male, low socioeconomic status and low educational level with poor oral health status. conclusion: oral health was poor among inhabitants of gonbad and kalaleh districts, especially in men and was related to low socioeconomic status and illiteracy.