To assess the Oral Health status of Elderly people living in the slums of Udupi Taluk.

With the rapid development of medicine, the number ofelderly people, and consequently, elderly patients in dental practice, is constantlyincreasing. Despite the efforts of dentists to educate patients on oral hygiene(to prevent oral health diseases) there are an increased number of people closelyrelated to the physical- and mental-related quality of life, oral disorderssuch as tooth loss, interpersonal relationships and daily activities andtherefore the “well-being†or “quality of life†the goal of contemporarydentistry is to improve oral health, thus improving the overall quality ofpatients’ life.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, andsocial well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Fromthis point of view, the ultimate goal in public health is not only the absenceof oral diseases but also the mental and social well-being of patients. Oralhealth has always been considered an important part of the patient’s general healthdue to the fact that oral diseases can interfere with daily lifeactivities, thus affecting the general quality of life.

According to the World Health Organization, Oral diseasesare the most common noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and affect peoplethroughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and evendeath and The oral health care demands are beyond the capacities of the healthcare systems in most low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and Socialdeterminants have a strong impact on oral health. The population living inslums belong to the low socioeconomic status. According to Hobdell et al., a strong association exists between dental caries prevalence and poor oralhygiene in people Low socioeconomic status. Another study was done by Kothia et al,says that the two most common oral diseases which are very high in India arethe  Prevalence of oral cancer withdental caries in the age group of 35 to 44, and 65 to 74-year- old andrespectively periodontal diseases in the age group of 35 to 44, and 65 to74-year-old. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 estimated that oraldiseases affected half of the world’s population (3.58 billion people) withdental caries (tooth decay) in permanent teeth being the most prevalentcondition assessed. (WHO). Most of the Elderly population in slums arenon-working and a study was done by Mishra et al., in 2010 also found cariesexperiences are more in those who are not having any occupation. Behaviouralrisk factors for oral diseases are shared with other major NCDs, such as an an unhealthy diet high in free sugars, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol.(WHO).

In this study most common questionnaire will be usedto study and evaluate the oral health-related factors as one of the mostcomprehensive subjective oral health statuses is to measures the self-reporteddysfunction, discomfort, and disability attributed to oral conditions. Thequestionnaire consists of 20 questions which are related to the barriers andfactors related to oral health care. All the participants must fill thequestionnaire and their response will be recorded for the purpose to obtain andanalyze the results of the study.