Online ISSN: 2515-8260

Palatal changes of reverse smokers in a population

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Dr.Shweta Chouhan,

Abstract

Introduction: Reverse smoking has been identified as a unique way of tobacco usage where the smoker usually places the lit end of the chutta into his or her mouth so that they directly inhales from the lit end. On an average, each adult might smoke 3–4 chuttas per day and each chutta relatively lasts for about 15–30 min. Materials and Methodology: Oral screening camp was conducted and almost over 1500 individuals were screened and a total of 65 individuals were reported to indulge in reverse smoking. Of these, 49 were females and 16 were males who had given meticulous history of reporting no other tobacco and alcohol habits and there were no systemic disturbances. Proper history pertaining to the habit, systemic illness, pigmentation related to any medications, family history and reason for indulging in reverse smoking were collected from all the 65 individuals.Palatal mucosal observations were made by four examiners and the mean and percentage prevalence of lesions among 65 subjects were computed. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess the association between the agreements of four examiners, a P value was calculated by two-tailed t-test. Logistic regression analysis model was used for co-efficient of prediction in presence or absence of a lesion. Results: The mean and percentage prevalence of the each lesion recorded and agreed by four examiners among 65 subjects shows presence of 88.7% of hyper-pigmented areas, 63.4% of depigmented areas, 51.6% of excrescences, 33.0% of potentially malignant lesions and 10.5% of frank ulcerations. Fisher’s exact test was used to test the association between the agreements of four examiners, a P value was established at 0.7203. In the logistic regression analysis model the coefficient of the variable was set at 1, the confidence interval was found to be 95% and P < 0.005 was established. Conclusion: In order to make healthy choices, a stern focus on the health promotion is mandatory that majorly include those that emphasize on the need of educating the individuals about the risks associated. Moreover in view of considering the high-risk groups in order to influence the personal routines and behaviours, it is aimed at emphasizing the measures through information campaigns.

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