Oral diseases have a high prevalence and incidence around the world, a major public health concern, especially in developing countries. Oral hygiene status can determine the pattern of tooth loss through periodontitis and dental caries 24, 32. Oral health is closely related to the general well-being of people 1. Tooth loss by periodontal disease can occur gradually and progressively through loss of bone structure that supports the teeth by inflammation of the gingival and periodontal tissues 2, 25. After periodontal diseases, dental caries is the second major cause of tooth loss 3. The prevalence of dental caries is trending to increase in developing countries and requires a great deal of attention as it has a multi-factorial etiology. Dental …show more content…
Tooth loss has been associated with lower mental status and physical disability 5. There is a need for increasing dental education of the population to promote oral health through implementation of effective measures and strengthening of public health programs 6. In the study on tooth loss and its associated factors in older Taiwanese adults, tooth loss was concluded to be closely associated with oral hygiene status as well 5. Similarly poor oral hygiene habits have been demonstrated to be significant risk indicators of tooth loss in a study on Bangladeshi adult population 7. In 2012, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to study the relationship between number of natural teeth and oral health behavior in adult Japanese people. The study concluded that risk of tooth loss may be reduced through frequent oral hygiene practices 8. Another study on Taiwanese adults in 2013 on impact of oral health behaviors and oral habits on the number of remaining teeth concluded that less frequent use of dental floss resulted in low number of teeth …show more content…
Due to unhealthy life style periodontal diseases are prevalent among the marginalized communities 18. Tooth loss has significant economic burden due to high treatment cost that can be prevented if proper information regarding oral hygiene is disseminated to the marginalized communities.
With this focus a study was conducted among the patients visiting the dental department of Pakistan Institute of medical Sciences (PIMS), SZAMBU to determine the socio demographic factors contributing to tooth loss.
PIMS is a tertiary care hospital that is serving a huge catchment area and the patient visiting in dental department come from low socio economic status as they cannot afford the expensive dental treatment from private