Dental health and treatment needs among a sample of Bangladeshi medical users aged 40 years and over living in Tower Hamlets, UK

Aim: To assess the dental health status and treatment needs of Bangladeshi medical care users aged 40 years and over and to explore the relationship of oral disease status, tobacco usage and paan (betel quid) chewing. Design: Multi‐centre cross‐sectional study. Setting: General medical practitioners' waiting areas in Tower Hamlets, UK. Subjects: 185 Bangladeshi adults aged 40 years and over. Intervention: A clinical examination and an interview schedule. Measures: Dental status, periodontal status, dental plaque, calculus and denture status. Tobacco smoking and paan chewing behaviour. Results: The response rate was 74%. 85% of participants were dentate with an average number of 24 (SD +/– 5.4) standing teeth. The mean DMFT score was 5.38, with missing teeth (3.81) being the major component. The decayed component was 0.43 and the filled was 1.14. 46% of participants were assessed as being free from gingivitis. Significant relationships between chewing paan and aspects of dental and periodontal status were found. Impacts of oral health were reported by 45% of the respondents. The normative need for dental treatment was 96% with a perceived need of 48%. Conclusion: There was considerable normative dental need. Whilst caries experience was low, there were high levels of periodontal treatment needs. Paan chewing was related to aspects of dental and periodontal status.