Sujata Panda1 , Bimal Krishna Panda2 , Barnanshu Pattnaik3 , Choubarga Naik4 , Subha Soumya Dany5 , Anisha Avijeeta6
BACKGROUND Oral Sub Mucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is the most common precancerous lesion prevalent in Asian subcontinent and India. It raises concern among oral healthcare professionals because among all potentially malignant oral lesions and conditions, this precancerous condition has highest rates of malignant transformation. The aim of our study is to evaluate the prevalence of OSMF in habitual areca nut chewers among the patients attending the out-patient Department of Dentistry of Veer Surendra Sai Medical College and Hospital, Burla. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in dental out-patient department of Veer Surendra Sai Medical College and Hospital, Burla for a period of 3 years (January 2015 - December 2017). Individuals with a clinical diagnosis of Oral Submucous Fibrosis according to WHO were included in the study, after obtaining an informed consent and approval of Hospital Ethical Committee. A total of 36000 patients were screened, out of which 457 were included in the study. Specialist examiners carried out all oral examinations who were accustomed with oral mucosal lesions found among the local population. A sterile mouth mirror and examination gloves were used for intraoral examination. On the basis of age group, habit duration, and type of habit, the study was carried out. Shapiro???Wilk test was used for assessing data distribution and Chi???square test for comparing the categorical data. RESULTS The prevalence of OSMF was found to be more common among males than females, with 99.14 % in males as compared with 0.87 % in females. Majority of the patients were in the age group of 15 - 25 years (213 patients out of 457) which accounted for 46.6 % with most them in Stage II (69.01 %). 49.23 % of patients had habit duration of 3 - 7 years (225 out of 457) with the majority of them in stage II (60.88 %). CONCLUSIONS Increased occurrence of OSMF among the general population in India may be attributed to the sale of areca nut products especially gutkha and pan masala in public is precisely being targeted for the younger generation. Primary healthcare professionals and dentists should also help to cessation of these habits among the public by participating in the programs targeted to this cause.
