Oral Health Needs Including Unmet Dental Needs among Transgender Population- A Review

Abstract

Healthcare is a fundamental human right irrespective of gender, race, religion, caste, social status or the community in which they live. But transgender people are mostly victims of such barriers which eventually lead to compromised oral health. This narrative review emphasise on the oral health needs including unmet dental needs among transgender population. Search strategies were devised for each database for easy identification of the studies to be included in this review. The search strategy used a combination of controlled vocabulary and free text terms. The main electronic database used to access the studies were PubMed, PubMed Central, Cochrane Review, Embase and Google Scholar using keywords such as transgender, eunuch, dental health, oral health, etc., were used as the main electronic databases to access the studies. Exact 20 articles fulfilled this criteria and were selected for review. A high prevalence of oromucosal lesions were seen among the transgenders. High prevalence of gutkha chewing habit might be a reason for an increase in number of oral mucosal lesions. Furthermore, the review also showed that Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF), leukoplakia and lichen planus were the commonly found oral mucosal lesions in the surveyed population. Awareness of brushing habits among transgenders and care towards their oral hygiene was found to be low. In the present review, it has been observed that the dental health is poor among the studied population. There is a need for oral hygiene and health awareness among transgenders as well as improvement and participation by policy makers for better delivery of health and dental facilities to them. Thus, more emphasis should be laid on research in this population group.

Keywords

• barriers
• dental caries
• dental health
• eunuch