PERIODONTAL ASSESSMENT IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL POTENTIALLY MALIGNANTDISORDERS – A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Background: Periodontal disease is a chronic multifactorial disease while potential malignant disorders are precancerous lesions mostly associated with habits. The aim of the study is to assess the periodontal health in patients diagnosed with oral potentially malignant disorders(PMD) in a private hospital in Chennai, India. Materials and Methods: The study was a retrospective study and was done under a university setting. Total number of sample size includes 209 patients who have been diagnosed with PMD. The data was obtained from the category of Mucosal lesions, leukoplakia, OSMF, lichen planus , actinic cheilitis and lupus erythematosus. General history including age, sex, adverse oral habits associated and different types of periodontal diseases were tabulated. The data was all tabulated and exported to SPSS for association and analysis using Chi-square test. Results: There was a significant association found between tobacco usage and periodontal diseases(p=0.038). The association between periodontal diseases and potentially malignant disorders was not statistically significant since p=0.090. Conclusion: The study concluded that a positive relation is established between smokeless tobacco with generalised chronic gingivitis and smoking tobacco with generalised chronic periodontitis. In patients with leukoplakia and lichen planus, generalized chronic periodontitis was commonly seen. In patients with oral submucous fibrosis, generalised chronic gingivitis was commonly seen. The study also concluded that a possible relationship can be established in a wide scale research between periodontal disease and oral potentially malignant disorders.