Abstract
This study assessed the prevalence of root caries and its risk factors in the elderly population of Khordha district, Odisha, India. Further, microbiological profiling was done for the same patients. The Khordha district was divided into four zones, and municipal clusters were selected randomly from each zone. Residents aged 65-75 years and who provided consent were included in the study, except those with physical disabilities and terminal illnesses. A pilot study on 25 subjects who met the inclusion criteria and the sample size was calculated to be 373 based on the formula N = Za2 {p (1-p)}/L2 x D.E. and rounded off to 380. The majority (70%) of the study population comprised males residing in urban areas having a minimum of middle school education. Most of them cleaned their teeth at least once daily. Tobacco use was prevalent in the population, with 37.3% smokers and 87.4% chewing tobacco, significantly more in males. The overall prevalence of root caries was 20.8%, with 16.3% in males and 4.5% in females, respectively. The mean RCI score for males in the study population was 8.09 ± 14.8, while that for females was significantly lower at 5.89 ± 8.23 (p<0.001). Gingival recession was observed in 6.74 ± 10.96. Streptococcus mutans was the major causative organism, irrespective of gender. This study found the prevalence of root caries to be 20.8% and influenced by gender, smoking, chewing tobacco, and consumption of alcohol. Hence, focusing on these factors would be a prudent way to tackle root caries.
Keywords: Root caries, Tobacco use, Oral hygiene, Prevalence, Microbiological profiling