Assessment of Oral Lesions and Its Association With Smoking Habits in Paniya Tribes of India

Background: The tribal populations throughout India have remained socially and culturally alienated from mainstream Indian society until developmental and conservation activities in tribal areas forced interactions between them. Oral health remains far neglected especially among the underprivileged tribal populations in India. Oral leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis are the most common oral mucosal diseases that have a very high malignant transformation rate. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the oral lesions among smoking habits in Paniya tribes of Wayanad, India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was done among 170 nonsmoking and 145 smoking Paniya tribal populations of Wayanad district from January 2016 after approval from the institutional ethical committee. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data regarding study variables. Results: In this study oral lesions was found to be far more prevalent among smoking Paniya tribes than among the non smoking ( P < 0.0001). The prevalence of oral lesions was found to be 48% among smokers. This was much higher than the 7% found among the nonsmokers. Among smokers gingivitis (82%) and periodontitis (68%) is the common lesions followed by oral pigmentation (33%), angular cheilitis (16%), oral submucous fibrosis (12%), leukoplakia (8%) and oral candidiasis (4%). Among the smokers a statistically significant relationship was observed between oral lesions and poor access to oral health care ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: The current study demonstrates gross disparities in oral lesions among smoking and nonsmoking Paniya tribes. Oral health problems due to tobacco use are highly prevalent in the tribal community of Wayanad. Hence attention should be focused on improving the oral health status of this unprivileged group.