Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs of Lock Factory Workers in Aligarh City

Introduction: Oral health is a vital part of general health and is a valuable asset of every individual. It is an important public health problem owing to the prevalence, socio-economical aspect, expensive treatment, and lack of awareness. The health of industrial workers often goes uncared due to their stressful working conditions, busy schedules, and poor economic conditions. Aims and Objective: The aim was to assess the oral health status and treatment needs of lock factory workers in Aligarh city. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 850 lock factory workers (19-64 years) in Aligarh city. A clinical examination for recording the oral health status was based on WHO Basic Oral Health Assessment (2013). Descriptive analysis was done and the data were analyzed by using Chi-square test, fisher's exact test, and ANOVA test. P = 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of dental caries in the workers was found to be 46.9%. The mean dentition status of factory workers was found to be 5.16 +/- 5.15. Total 72.1% workers had gingival bleeding, 42 (4.9%) had questionable form of enamel fluorosis, and 184 (21.6%) factory workers were having dental erosion. The oral mucosal lesions prevalence was 20.8% and it was found that most common site for oral mucosal lesions was buccal mucosa. 18% had traumatic teeth and only 9% factory workers had partial dentures. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that periodontal diseases, mucosal lesions, and dental caries are major public health problems among the factory workers. Primary oral health care programs like dental screening and oral health education at regular intervals should be made mandatory which will help to prevent accumulation of health care demands of the factory employees.