Association Between Academic Stress And Gingival Inflammation Among Dental Students- A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Psychological stress is increasingly recognized as an important factor affecting systemic and oral health. Various literature reviews consider stress as one of the triggering risk factors for gingival diseases. A recent trend changed the treatment of gingival disease from solely treating microbial etiology to treating the psychological factors.

Aim: The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between stress and gingival health among dental students by using various periodontal parameters.

Materials and methods: Interns and Final year students of JKKN Dental college and hospital were included for the study. Perceived stress scale was used to analyse the stress level. To analyse gingival health, plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing was used.

Result: The result obtained from the survey was tabulated, analysed. The association between stress and gingival disease was found to be statistically significant. Among the 175 participants, 68% demonstrated moderate stress levels, while 32% exhibited high perceived stress and notably no participant belonged to low stress category. Participants with high stress showed significantly higher gingival index, plaque index, and bleeding on probing scores compared to those with moderate stress levels (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that psychological stress is significantly associated with gingival inflammation among dental students.

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