Prevalence of Osteomyelitis in Jaws among the Patients Visiting Private Dental Hospital: An Institutional Study

Introduction: Osteomyelitis is an inflammatory condition of bone that involves the medullary cavity and periosteum. The prevalence rate of this disease was found predominantly among the males than females with an incidence of 30-39 years. This condition involves one or more facial bones in the head and neck, mainly mandible, frontal bone, cervical spine, maxilla and nasal bones. Various types of osteomyelitis are acute, primary chronic suppurative and secondary chronic and fungal osteomyelitis.

Aim: To assess the prevalence rate of osteomyelitis in jaws among the patients visiting private dental hospitals in chennai.

Materials and Methods: This present study was carried out in a private dental hospital under a university setting, in Chennai. Sample size for the present study includes the patients who were diagnosed with osteomyelitis from Jun 2019 to Feb 2021 which was collected using the Dental hospital management system. Sample size of the study was found to be n= 5 cases of osteomyelitis in jaws among 5,35,951 patients. The data collected was verified and tabulated in excel and statistically analysed using SPSS software. Chi square test was done to compare the groups (p<0.05) which shows the significance and the results were interpreted.

Results : Among the total patients, 40 % of them were males and 60 % of them were females. It was observed that 60 % of the subjects had acute osteomyelitis, 20 % with chronic suppurative and fungus associated osteomyelitis and found to be more prevalent among the individuals who were aged between 41-50 years. Majority of the females, 40% were highly affected with acute osteomyelitis than males, 20% of them were affected. However, p value less than 0.05 is considered as statistically significant, here the chi square test p value = 0.329, as (p > 0.05 ) it is insignificant.

Conclusion: The prevalence of osteomyelitis has recently decreased in developing countries, as attributed to the improvement in the oral and dental care with standard antibiotic treatment. From the results of our study it is evident that out of 5 cases of osteomyelitis in jaws, the majority of patients 60% were diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis. This shows that there is a reliable prevalence of osteomyelitis in jaws among the patients who are visiting private dental hospitals.