Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Epilepsy is a condition in which patient experiences seizures, where behaviour and mental activity is disturbed. Hence; the present study was undertaken for assessing the oral health status of patients with epilepsy in rural population of Himachal. Materials & methods: A total of 100 epilepsy patients were enrolled in the present study. Complete demographic details of all the patients were obtained. A Performa was prepared and separate assessment of clinical and medical details of all the patients was done. After obtaining the informed consent, patients were made to sit in supine position and complete oral examination was carried using mouth mirror, William probe and explorer. OHI-S (Oral hygiene index- simplified) was used for assessing the oral health status. All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet and were analysed by SPSS software. Results: It was seen that significantly higher proportion of patients with history of seizure of more than 4 didn’t brushed their teeth regularly. Also, incidence of bleeding gums was significantly higher among patients history of seizure of more than 4 per month in comparison to patients which were seizure free. Out of 14 patients with history of seizure of more than 4 per month, bad breath was present in 12 patients while out of 20 patients which were seizure free, 6 patients had bad breath. While analysing statistically, it was seen that bad breath was strongly associated with frequency of seizures. Also, significantly higher proportion of dental caries and gingivitis was seen in patients with higher frequency of seizure per month. Conclusion: Epilepsy patients have compromised oral health and hence; regular oral examination is advocated in these group of patients. Key words: Epilepsy, Rural, Population