Abstract
BACKGROUND: Socio-economic status is a total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual or family economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education and occupation. OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted to determine the differences in attitudes of people from different socioeconomic statuses towards their oral hygiene. METHOD: A cross sectional study was conducted among subjects of various socioeconomic groups. Socioeconomic status and oral hygiene data was collected using Aggarwal scale having 22 items questionnaire addressing various aspects of knowledge and attitude of subjects towards oral health, and simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI- S), respectively. Statistical analysis was done using chi- square test and frequency distribution (P< 0.05 taken as significant). RESULTS: Among 500 subjects, 260 (52%) were found to have good oral hygiene, and most of them (43.46%) were from lower middle class group. A highly significant association was found between the oral hygiene and socioeconomic status (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that the socioeconomic status is not the only factor that determines a person's attitude towards oral hygiene, but other factors such as lack of awareness, lack of availability of dentist nearby, fear and anxiety also play an important role.