KUMJ | VOL. 16 | NO. 3 | ISSUE 63 | JULY-SEPT. 2018

Assessment of Periodontal Status of the People in Chepang Hill Tract of Nepal: A Cross Sectional Study
Humagain M, Adhikari S

Abstract:
Background Periodontal disease is one of the common oral and dental disease globally. The main etiology of periodontal disease is microbial plaque. However, it shares many common etiological factors with other chronic diseases. The Chepang are an indigenous TibetoBurman people group numbering around fifty-two thousand mainly inhabiting the rugged ridges of the Mahabharat mountain range of central Nepal. They are the tribes with different food habit, religion and culture. Till date no studies has been conducted about the periodontal and oral health status of the Chepang people. Objective To determine the prevalence of periodontitis in adult Chepang population so that knowing about its prevalence and distribution, besides serving as a demographic tool, will also help in having overview about the need for providing proper oral health care and awareness programs and initiatives aimed at reducing the disease prevalence in this indigenous group. Method The study was conducted among the adult (21 to 70 years) Chepang of Chitwan district. It was the cross sectional study with the random sampling technique. Modified Community Periodontal Index (CPI) and loss of attachment were used to record the periodontal status of all 308 sampled population. Result Out of 308 sampled participants 179 were male and 129 were female. The highest number of participants were from 41 to 50 years old (38.31%). 57.14% adult Chepang brushes their teeth once daily and 31.49% brushes twice daily and 1.30% of them had never brushes their teeth. 36.36% had loss of attachment of 4-5 mm without any significant gender difference. 6.17% of the study population had severe form of periodontitis with ≥ 12 mm of attachment loss. Calculus deposit was abundant in 57.79% of the study sample, and 25.64% shows pocket depth of 4 to 5 mm. Loss of attachment and CPI score is found to be increased with increasing age. Conclusion Result of this study reveals the presence of periodontal problems in adult Chepang population. Higher calculus with attachment loss and pocket depth were the major problems seen in this community. This highlights the necessity of implementation of more preventive program in this specific targeted population.
Keyword : Chepang, Community, Periodontal, Prevalence