Smithereens of Dental Treatment Myths Busting It and Purveying Facts Among Indian Population – A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To assess how much taboos and myths among people are the reasons for neglect towards dental treatment.Material & Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study carried out among patients visiting the outpatient department of a dental hospital in Nagpur, Vidarbha, Maharashtra. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the reasons for patients to neglect dental treatment. The Data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences software.Results: Out of 152 outpatients only 16(10.7%) had come for a general checkup of the teeth; rest136 (89.3%) had some or the other issues with their teeth but had neglected it for the following reasons- out of these 136, 103 (75.7%) of the patients reported that they were having some myth about dental treatments and feared not to report their problem until it was an extremely unbearable.Conclusion: Even in this 21st century in a well-developed metro city like Nagpur Maharastra more than three-fourth of people believed visit for a dental treatment would hamper their general health, and had myths regarding dental treatments, efforts should be directed towards removal of these myths from patient’s mind; in which media has to play a major role for a better future of this country.