Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Women in Slums of Pimpri, Chinchwad, Pune, Maharashtra, India, regarding Usage of Mishri.

INTRODUCTION:Mishri is one of the form of smokeless tobacco, which is a roasted, powdered preparation made by baking tobacco on a hot metal plate until it is uniformly black, after which it is powdered. It is noted that mishri use is more commonly used by the women of low socioeconomic status, hence the need was felt to conduct this study among women mishri users of slums. Also, the consequences of mishri use are little known, hence an effort is made to find out its ill-effect on oral health. OBJECTIVE:To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among women using mishri regarding its effects on their oral and general health. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A 6-month KAP study was conducted among 100 women who were using mishri. Snowball sampling was used. Oral examination of the participants was also done for oral potentially malignant disorders, such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, and hyperkeratinized pouch. RESULTS:About 61% of the population used mishri for cleaning the teeth and others used it as quid; 0.85% of the total participants knew that the use of mishri may lead to precancerous lesions/conditions. Only 17% knew that mishri use can cause gum disease; 84% of the population was willing to quit the habit of using mishri. CONCLUSION:It is concluded that all the participants had poor knowledge. Attitude toward quitting mishri use was found to be good. About 4% of the participants reported about quitting the habit. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:There is need to create awareness regarding harmful effects of mishri usage in this particular area to improve oral health status.