Oral health status and treatment needs among multiple factory workers, Tumkur City – A cross sectional study

Background: The oral cavity is a port for entry of many diseases and presents several unique features which make it especially prone to occupational disease. Aim: To describe the oral health problems among multiple factory workers of Tumkur city. Methodology: A cross-sectional, observational study was designed to include multiple (garment, leather, cement, and food) factories. A total of 3551 workers who voluntarily gave consent to participate were included and the data were recorded using modified WHO proforma - 2013. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 19.0, IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics and Spearmen's correlation were applied and the P < 0.05 were considered as significant. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 32.12 ± 2.02 years. Oro mucosal lesions were found among 15.8% of people and 1.6% of subjects had leukoplakia. Alveolar ridge/gingiva (28%) was the most common site of occurrence for oro-mucosal lesions. The mean Decay, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) was 3.11 ± 1.72. There was a positive correlation with age and all other parameters such as oro-mucosal lesions, decayed status, treatment needs, periodontal conditions and prosthetic status (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Oral health among multiple factory workers was poor. There was a trend of increase in DMFT, prosthetic need, oro-mucosal lesion along with the age of the factory workers which was statistically highly significant.