title: Domestic violence and its effect on oral health behaviour and oral health status.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Violence against women is one of the major public health and human rights problem in the world today. Hence, the present study was conducted with the aim to assess the effect of domestic violence on oral health behavior and oral health status of females attending community outreach programmes in and around Modinagar.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted through the community outreach programmes organized in Modinagar. A structured questionnaire was used to illicit information regarding socio demographic characteristics, oral health behavior and domestic violence. The dental health examination was done to record dental health status, intraoral and extraoral soft tissue injury, tooth fracture and tooth avulsion due to the injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the total 304 women, 204(67.1%) reported positive domestic violence. Psychological violence was found to be severe whereas sexual violence was found to be mild in most of the cases. Significant difference was found between oral hygiene aids used , frequency of tooth brushing, periodontal status, missing teeth, intraoral soft tissue injuries and fractures between both the groups (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study confirmed that domestic violence had significant influence on oral health behavior and oral health status of women. Thus, the dental professionals also should make an attempt to help victims gain access to support and referral services and to provide adequate treatment to them so as to make a positive difference in their lives.
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Hansa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.affiliation: Professor & Head Department, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Basavaraj
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: P
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.affiliation: Reader Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Sunder
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kote
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Shilpi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Khushboo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Tutor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Vaibhav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vashishtha
keywords: Abuse; Domestic violence; Oral health behaviour; Oral health status