Abstract

Charanya S. and *Dr. Vasugi Suresh

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Mouth ulcers are small, painful lesions that develop in the mouth or at the base of gums. They can make eating, drinking and talking painful. Stress, anxiety and depression are the most common causes of oral ulcers among dentistry students as they more likely tend to bite their cheeks and lips when anxious or stressed causing trauma to mouth and eventually leading to the development of oral stress ulcers. Aim: To evaluate the occurrence of oral stress ulcers among dentistry students during their course tenure. Materials and Methods: An online survey was conducted among dentistry students across various dental colleges using a questionnaire. The questions were related to the frequency of occurrence of oral stress ulcers during their course tenure. A total of 15 questions were included. Results: 86.8% of the students have experienced the occurrence of oral stress ulcers more than twice during their course tenure, 10.2% of the students have experienced the occurrence of oral stress ulcers only twice during their course tenure and 2.68% of the students have experienced the occurrence of oral stress ulcers only once during their course tenure and 0.32% of the students seem to have not experienced the occurrence of oral stress at all. Conclusion: The high occurrence of oral stress ulcers among dentistry students highlights the importance of providing support programs and implementing preventive measures to help students, particularly those who are most susceptible to higher levels of these psychological conditions.