Abstract
Oral cancer is a major public health problem in the Indian subcontinent, where it ranks among the top three types
of cancer in the country. Oral cancer is defined as the cancer of lips, mouth and tongue.The difference in incidence and pattern
of oral cancer can be due to an overall effect of ageing of population as well as some regional differences in the prevalence of
specific risk factor.Therefore the aim of the present study was to assess oral cancer incidence in patients based on forms of
habits. This study was conducted in the Oral Cancer Department , Saveetha Dental College, Chennai. The study involved 50
patients who were clinically diagnosed with oral cancer. The various forms of habits observed were Guthka,Pan chewing
,Smoking. Pearson chi square test was done to statistically analyze the data and to identify any significant level of association.
The most predominant form of habit was observed to be Pan chewing(n=11;22%) Out of the total 50 patients involved in the
study it was observed that it was most predominant in the males(78%) with Pan chewing being the most predominant
habit(n=10;25.6%) More number of oral cancer with various forms of habits were observed in above 50 years of age
group(n=29;58%) Within the limitations of our study it was observed that oral cancer incidence in patients based on forms of
habits was observed in above 50 years of age with a high predominance in the males and Pan chewing being the most common
form of habit. Further studies with a larger sample size are required to compare the efficacy of oral cancer based on various
forms of habits.