Oral health status and treatment needs of substance abusers attending de-addiction centers in Bangalore city

Introduction: Studies in different countries, demonstrated high caries prevalence, poor gingival health, poor motivation and oral hygiene practices with substance abusers. The substances may be natural or synthetic, the use of which has a psychoactive effect and alters or modifies the functions of a living organism. Aim: To assess the oral health status and treatment needs of substance abusers attending de-addiction centers in Bangalore. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 426 substance abusers admitted in the wards who were randomly selected from 5 selected de-addiction centers from April 2009 to September 2009. The study population consisted of four groups namely alcohol, nicotine, alcohol + nicotine and other drugs group from the selected de-addiction centers. The oral health status of the patients was determined based on the WHO proforma1997. Descriptive statistics, Pearson′s Chi-square test and ANOVA tests were applied. Results: The study population consisted of 426 male subjects in the age group of 16-65 years old with an average of 36.35 years. Alcohol + nicotine group had significantly more temporomandibular joint clicking than other groups (P < 0.05). Ninety-Six oral mucosal lesions were found in the study. Alcohol group had significantly higher mean CPI code 3 (pockets 4-5 mm) than the other groups (P < 0.05). The prevalence of decayed, missing, filled teeth in the study population was 83.33%. The mean DMFT of the study population is 4.15 ± 3.74 standard deviation. The mean DMFT of the Alcohol group was significantly higher than the other combinations group (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The oral health status of substance abusers was poor. There were a large number of oral mucosal lesions noted in them. The dental caries status and periodontal status was the worst in the alcohol group