Dentition Status and Treatment Needs among Women involved in Sex Work as a Profession in the Red Light District of Pune, Maharashtra, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

The overall rehabilitation of women in sex work is unfortunately limited most of the time only to moving them to another profession, but it should be focused on including health as an important factor. Factors that restrict regular dental care include misconceptions, dental fear and expense of dental care, unpleasant dental experiences, and socioeconomic factors, but such a direct correlation cannot be made in the case of such women. Until now, no study has been conducted related to the complete dentition status and treatment needs of women in sex work. The aim of our survey was to evaluate the dentition status and treatment needs among the brothel-based women engaged in sex work. A pilot study was conducted on 30 women and the final sample size was estimated to be 350. All the women were above 18 years old. Systematic random sampling method was followed after line listing of the brothels. The dentition status and treatment needs were recorded using the World Health Organization assessment form, 1997. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 16.0. The Chi-squared test was carried out to check the association, and all p-values below 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. The mean number of decayed teeth per person was 5.05 (±4.81), missing teeth per person was 0.96 ± 2.71, filled teeth per person was 0.04 (±0.34), and the mean of decayed missing filled permanent teeth per person was 6.05 (±5.84). There was a significant association between dental caries and age, using finger to clean the teeth, and not visiting the dentist. Due to different risk factors, such as diet, improper oral hygiene maintenance, and substance abuse, the overall dental health was found to be compromised in this population. Economic burden is an important factor that influences their attitude toward oral health and is likely to be inherited by their next generation also.