INCIDENCE OF CERVICAL CARIES AMONG THE ADULTS OF SOUTH CANARA, INDIA IN RELATION TO THE DIETARY STATUS – AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY

Cervical caries also termed as “root caries” is a lesion located on the root surface of a tooth, usually close to or below the gingival margin and is a multifactor disease. Diet being one of the key factors in caries progression, the purpose of the study was to investigate the incidence of cervical caries in hospital attending patients and its relation to diet. 197 subjects visiting the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology in A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Deralakatte, Mangalore were included in the survey. A questionnaire including subject’s demographic details, oral health and dietary status was used as the survey tool. The study was an attempt to compare the incidence of root caries among the vegetarian and mixed diet. Among the 197 cases, 100 vegetarians and 97 mixed diet followers were analyzed. Chi-square and two sample independent‘t’ tests showed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The study revealed that the percentage of root caries was higher among the vegan diet (45%) compared to the mixed diet (26%). The study was a small effort towards understanding factors associated with root caries and also possible role of protein rich non vegetarian (or mixed) dietary habit in prevention of caries.