AYUSH in oral health care in India: insights from a cross-sectional survey on awareness, utilisation, patient perceptions, and oral health outcomes

Background Oral health diseases affect nearly 3.7 billion people worldwide, with substantial treatment gaps in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy, and Sowa-Rigpa are all AYUSH systems that are widely used in India. However, there is paucity of evidence on public awareness, patient perceptions and utilisation of AYUSH systems for oral health care, which limits the efforts to promote informed healthcare choices and integrate traditional medicine in oral health services. Objectives The present study evaluated the knowledge, use and perception of AYUSH systems for oral health care among dental outpatients and secondarily, to describe their oral health status, oral health-related quality of life and dental expenditure. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1,190 outpatients attending a tertiary dental hospital from October 2025 to January 2026 was conducted. A bilingual structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socioeconomic attributes, oral health-related quality of life (OHIP-14), AYUSH awareness, healthcare utilisation and expenditure. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression and non-parametric tests were performed for analysing the awareness of AYUSH, oral health outcomes and expenditure patterns among the study participants. Results Of the 1,190 participants, only 30.0% were aware of AYUSH systems for oral health; and just 4.54% had used AYUSH for a dental or oral problem. Although, AYUSH utilisation was low, the perception of the participants was mainly neutral (56.47%) or positive (37.31%) and only 6.22% had low perception. Adjusted analyses showed that both neutral (AOR: 3.15; 95% CI: 1.45–6.87) and positive (AOR: 2.69; 95% CI: 1.24–5.87) perceptions were associated with increased odds of reporting favourable self-rated oral health. 41.93% of participants reported frequent impact on oral health, and the most common problem was discomfort during eating (25.88%). Monthly dental expenses differed widely by occupation, socioeconomic level, and geographical location. Conclusion Low awareness and limited utilisation of AYUSH for oral health problems indicate a gap in condition-specific health literacy and service integration, thereby underscoring the need for targeted patient education, standardised clinical protocols, and equitable access to integrated oral healthcare.