Prevalence of Dental Caries and Missing teeth among the Women of Reproductive age

Abstract

Dental caries is a common global health problem today. There is a sharp increase in the prevalence of tooth loss following dental caries globally. The prevalence of tooth loss and dental caries was observed to be higher in women than in men in many parts of the world. Changing hormonal levels plays a vital role in causing oral diseases and in turn oral diseases may affect fertilization among women in reproductive age. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries and missing teeth among women of reproductive age. A retrospective study was conducted using records of patients visited University dental hospital. A total of 312 consecutive case records of patient age ranging from 18-40 years were retrieved. Data on the number of “D” component and the number of ‘M’ component of Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth Index (DMFT) and Decayed, Missing and Filled surface Index (DMFS) were entered and subjected to statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and chi-square association test was employed to find the association. The prevalence of dental caries and missing teeth was more in the age group 26-40years. Among the age group of 26-40 years, 42.31% of women had 0-5 decayed teeth, 37.82% of the women had 0-5 missing teeth, 25.64% of the women had 0-5 decayed surfaces, and 37.5% of the women had 0-5 missing surfaces. No significant association was present between reproductive age and decayed teeth, missing teeth surface (p>0.05), whereas a significant association of reproductive age with number of missing teeth and decayed teeth surface was observed (p