Assessment of oral hygiene habits, oral hygiene practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Northern India: A Cross sectional study

BACKGROUND The association between oral hygiene habits & practices and severity of tooth wear lesion varies from community to community and also from occupation to occupation. The present study was conducted with to assess oral hygiene habits & practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Punjab, India. MATERIAL AND METHODS A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted among 965 male workers who were aged between 19-58 years, who were the workers of fertilizers factory of Bathinda, India. An interview on the demographic profile, oral hygiene practices, and adverse habits followed a clinical examination for recording the Tooth Wear (Smith and Knight Index 1984) using Type III examination. The Chi-square test and a Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. Confidence interval and p-value set at 95% and ≤ 0.05 respectively. RESULTS In the present study majority (47.2%) of the study population used chew sticks for cleaning their teeth. Overall prevalence of adverse habits was reported (92.4%). Study population showed higher prevalence of tooth wear (77.1%). Best predictors identified for Tooth Wear were oral hygiene practices, adverse habits, years of work experience and age respectively. CONCLUSIONS Considerable percentages of fertilizer factory workers have demonstrated a higher prevalence of tooth surface loss. This may be useful in designing the investigations that aim to further explore the causes for these findings and more importantly to plan oral health promotion program implementing both preventive and curative strategies. KEY WORDS Tooth wear, smith & knight index, fertilizer factory.