Population Distribution and Patients' Awareness of Food Impaction: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Food impaction can contribute to a variety of oral health problems. However, the prevalence of food impaction in the population and patient awareness of these issues are poorly reported on.

Methods: A questionnaire about food impaction was designed and uploaded to an online platform (Sojump) which was then circulated among the study participants using various social media platforms. Participants were asked to anonymously respond to the questionnaire regarding the prevalence of food impaction, its influence on their quality of life, their consultation rates and their oral cleaning methods. The survey was conducted through an online survey portal. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS and GraphPad. The Chi-Square test, Bonferroni test and the Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to measure categorical variables from the survey.

Results: The results showed that the prevalence of food impaction in non-dental professional participants was 86.9%. Among these patients, 12,157 pairs/cases of proximal contacts were affected. The number of food impaction cases in posterior teeth was significantly higher than in anterior teeth. Approximately 81.9% of patients believed that food impaction could affect their lives. However, the consultation rate for these patients was only 17.7%.

Conclusions: This study revealed that food impaction continued to have a high rate of incidence and a low rate of consultation, potentially due to a lack of awareness regarding its influence on oral health. To effectively prevent and address problems resulting from food impaction, both dentists and society need to enhance oral health knowledge in the population.