Self-Medication Practices and Ignorance to Seek Treatment for Oral Health Problems amongst Adult Dental Patients A Cross-Sectional Survey

• Published in: Journal of Dental Research and Review Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 12 - 15
• Main Authors: Surenthar, Mouttoukichenin, Kumaran, Jimsha, Srinivasan, Subramanian, Daniel, Mariappan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Oral health; Self-care, Health; Surveys; India
• ISSN: 2348-2915
• DOI: 10.4103/jdrr.jdrr_67_20

Background: Self-medication is one of the major health concerns worldwide, and the World Health Organization has laid emphasis on correctly investigating and controlling it. Self-medication turns public and professional concern regarding imprudent practices, which has dramatically increased during the past few decades, especially in the developing countries. Aim and Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the self-medication practice for oral and dental health problems among adult dental patients in a teaching hospital, and the objective was to find the association between self-medication and ignorance in seeking dental treatment among those patients. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among 100 participants with 50 males and 50 females from outpatient block, with various oral health problems. Results: The prevalence of practice of self-medication was 87% among dental patients irrespective of their oral health problem and was 70.1%, which was exclusively for oral health problems among those 87%. About 44.2% of the respondents answered that the professional operative procedures weaken the teeth, and about 24.5% of the respondents fear that dentists prescribed drugs would cause side effects, and this might be the reason behind these patients undertaking self-medication which was highlighted in this study. Conclusion: The increased prevalence of self-medication in this study was alarming with analgesics being the most commonly used drug without even considering the toxic effects of it. This study emphasized that there is a paramount need for educational programs on the public associated with indiscriminate usage of drugs in which all health-care providers including pharmacists should play a vital role, and the government should also emphasize on formulating new techniques on the sale of drugs which could reach both literate and illiterate individuals.