Sociodemographic and Socioeconomic Determinants of Home Remedies Used for Toothache and its Knowledge Attitude and Practice of Rural Population in Salem Region of Tamil Nadu, India: A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract Objectives: This study aims to explore the sociodemographic and socioeconomic determinants of home remedy use for toothache due to dental caries and its knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among the rural population in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among the rural population in the Salem region by using simple random sampling. The participants were recruited from the dental institute and interviewed for a questionnaire about their sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, home remedies for tooth pain due to dental caries, and KAP. We employed descriptive statistics to summarize the data and logistic regression for clustering within KAP to explore associations between home remedy use and participants’ sociodemographic characteristics. Results: A total of 863 patients out of 3834 (prevalence rate = 22.5%) stated the use of home remedial measures to tackle pain caused by tooth decay. Majority of the participants ( N = 479, 55.5%) had poor knowledge with positive attitudes ( N = 649, 75.2%). Females with lower educational levels and income displayed higher odds (odds ratio [OR] = 1.430) for poor KAP compared to their respective counterparts. The prevalence of usage was significant with an increase of age, 1.81 and 1.72 times higher in 36–45 years and 46–55 years, respectively, and the risk of usage was significantly higher among middle school (OR = 5.27) and high school (OR = 6.178) who had education level up to tenth grade. Conclusions: The study highlights the necessity of educating the public and raising awareness about the proper use of remedial measures, particularly when access to professional dental care is difficult.