Year : 2022

Volume : Volume 13

Issue : Issue 4

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Rohit Singh
rohitped0604@gmail.com

Abstract

vIntroduction: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) has now been recognized and accepted as an Indian disease. It is one of the dreadful diseases which has the highest rates of malignant transformation. The prevalence of this deleterious habit in India is on rise so that this disease is reported to be rare which has now become very common. Hence, the awareness about its clinical features, diagnosis, and management is the main feature to curtail this menace. Materials and Methods: A total of 2175 school going children between 8 and 17 years of age were examined. All study subjects had undergone oral examination for OSMF. The data thus obtained were further subjected to statistical analysis. Results: Sixty-seven children exhibited clinical signs of OSMF, thus the resultant prevalence of OSMF was obtained to be 3.08%. These 67 children were found out of 159 children reported with the habits of chewing areca nut in the form of sweet supari, gutka, and kharra. Conclusion: Dental health education program regarding the harmful results of areca nut and its related products must be included in the syllabus of the school curriculum and awareness camp to be held in rural areas on routine monthly or biannual basis for the education of children and their parents.

Keywords: Oral submucous fibrosis, Areca nut, Prevalence.