Dental caries, oral hygiene status and treatment needs of fishermen and non-fishermen population in South Goa, India

Abstract

Background: Occupation plays a major role in the well-being of an individual and has an influence on oral health. Fishing is one such occupation that entails a lot of physical labour and encourages habits that lead to poor oral health. Therefore, it is critical to shed light on the oral health of this isolated population to improve their quality of life by various means. The aim of the study was to assess and compare the prevalence of dental caries, oral hygiene status and treatment needs of fisherman and non-fisherman population in South Goa, India. Materials and methods: Study design was cross-sectional in nature. After a pilot study, multi-stage random sampling technique was employed and 400 study participants were recruited. World Health Organization Oral Health Assessment Form (1997) and Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) were used to record the study variables. Inter-examiner reliability assessed using Kappa statistics were found to be 90% and 88%, respectively. The data was analysed using descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and linear and logistic regression analysis. Results: Fishermen had significantly higher caries prevalence (82%) and poor oral hygiene (46%) than non--fishermen. Extraction (42.2%) and pulp care (23.6%) were the highest treatment need among fishermen. They were 2.08 times more prone to dental caries than non-fishermen. Fishermen who used a toothbrush were 4.5 times less susceptible to caries. The dependence of caries prevalence and OHI-S score on occupation, oral hygiene aid and age were 14% and 25.8%, respectively. Conclusions: Fishermen in South Goa had high caries prevalence, poor oral hygiene status and they required extensive dental treatment when compared to non-fishermen.

Overview of oral health status and associated risk factors in maritime settings: An updated systematic review

“…In general, out of 22 included observational studies, 16 studies were rated as high quality [ 12 , 20 , 36 , 38 , 59 , 61 – 68 , 70 – 72 ], 5 studies had moderate quality [ 11 , 35 , 37 , 60 , 69 ] and only one study was rated as low quality due to not presenting data and weak methodological design [ 39 ] ( S2 Appendix ). When assessing the quality of RCT by the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool, the overall risk-of-bias judgement of both studies were to have some concern on risk of bias.…”

“…One study investigated the prevalence of dental caries among smoker and non-smoker fishermen with caries prevalence of 46.5% and 65.8%, respectively [ 63 ]. Five studies demonstrated high prevalence of dental caries with 82% [ 59 ], 82.6% [ 65 ], 90.9% [ 60 ], 55% [ 67 ] and periodontal diseases (99% [ 67 ]; 97.2% [ 60 ]; 85.4% [ 65 ], 100% [ 68 ] among fishermen. The prevalence of dental caries and periodontal diseases among seafarers were 88% and 75.1%, respectively [ 20 ].…”

“…Two studies described the oral hygiene status of fishermen with 46% and 60.6% was classified as poor oral hygiene status [ 59 , 60 ]. Eight studies discussed the oral health hygiene practices among seafarers [ 11 , 20 ] and fishermen [ 59 , 60 , 62 , 65 , 66 , 68 ]. One study from India reported that around 60% of seafarer used Seaweed as their common cleaning instrument [ 20 ], while more than 40% of India fishermen chewing sticks to keep the teeth clean [ 65 , 66 ].…”

“…One study from India reported that around 60% of seafarer used Seaweed as their common cleaning instrument [ 20 ], while more than 40% of India fishermen chewing sticks to keep the teeth clean [ 65 , 66 ]. In another study, 43% fishermen using toothbrush and toothpaste for oral hygiene while 32% having finger and toothpaste as their main cleaning instruments [ 59 ].…”

“…Four studies described tooth extraction as the most common dental treatment for seafarers and fishermen [ 11 , 59 , 65 , 67 ]. Around 70% of fishermen in India visited dentists for extracting their teeth [ 65 , 67 ], while 82% of seafarers lost their teeth due to extraction [ 11 ].…”