Oral Hygiene Practices and Risk of Oral Leukoplakia
Date
2006-04Author
Macigo Francis G.
Gathece Loice W.
Guthua Symon W.
Njeru, E. K.
Wagaiyu Evelyn G.
Mulli Tonnie K.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: To determine the influence of oral hygiene habits and practices on the risk of developing
oral leukoplakia.
Design: Case control study.
Setting: Githongo sublocation in Meru District.
Subjects: Eighty five cases and 141 controls identified in a house-to-house screening.
Results: The relative risk (RR) of oral leukoplakia increased gradually across the various brushing
frequencies from the reference RR of 1.0 in those who brushed three times a day, to 7.6 in the
“don’t brush” group. The trend of increase was statistically significant (X2 for Trend : p = 0.001).
The use of chewing stick as compared to conventional tooth brush had no significant influence on
RR of oral leukoplakia. Non-users of toothpastes had a significantly higher risk of oral leukoplakia
than users (RR = 1.8; 95% confidence levels (CI) = 1 .4-2.5). Among tobacco smokers, the RR increased
from 4.6 in those who brushed to 7.3 in those who did not brush. Among non-smokers, the RR of
oral leukoplakia in those who did not brush (1.8) compared to those who brushed was also
statistically significant (95% CL = 1.6-3.8).
Conclusion: Failure to brush teeth and none use of toothpastes are significantly associated with
the development of oral leukoplakia, while the choice of brushing tools between conventional
toothbrush and chewing stick is not. In addition, failure to brush teeth appeared to potentiate the
effect of smoking tobacco in the development of oral leukoplakia.
Recommendations: Oral health education, instruction and motivation for the improvement of oral
hygiene habits and practices; and therefore oral hygiene status, should be among the strategies
used in oral leukoplakia preventive and control programmes.
URI
http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/10591http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16863001
Citation
East African Medical Journal Vol. 83 No. 4 April 2006Publisher
, Department of Periodontology/Community and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nairobi
Description
Oral hygiene practices and risk of Oral Leukoplakia
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10377]