Common chief complaints of patients seeking treatment in the government dental institution of Puducherry, India

Objective: To explore the common chief complaints (CCs) of patients seeking treatment in the government dental hospital of Puducherrry, India. Materials and Methods: The age, gender, and the CC or the main reason for the visit were recorded for each consecutive patient of the 1,014 patients attending the dental hospital. The chi-square test was used to find any statistical association between the variables. Results: The mean age of the study group was 28.1 years with age ranging 1-80 years. Toothache is found to be most common CC reported by 33% of the patients. Decayed tooth is reported as the CC by 19% of the patients. CCs were found to vary across the different age groups and to some extent gender differences were also noted. Conclusion: CC denotes the demand for dental care and thus, helps in proper planning of the public dental health care system.