Background and objectives: Prisoners are a social group likely to have psychological problems which may cause them to ignore their oral hygiene. This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the periodontal health status of prisoners and to correlate the same with possible contributing factors. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the Central prison, Visakhapatnam. The test group consisted of 180 male prisoners whose oral and mental status was assessed by a structured questionnaire which included data on occupation prior to entering prison, occupation in prison, education level, duration of stay in prison, type of imprisonment, frequency of meeting their family, provision for maintaining oral hygiene in prison, previous dental history, family history, diet, personal habits and their oral hygiene practices. The control group consisted of 180 male individuals attending the outpatient clinic, Dept of Oral Medicine & Radiology, GITAM Dental College & Hospital Visakhapatnam. Oral hygiene and periodontal status was assessed using clinical parameters like oral hygiene index simplified, community periodontal index and sulcus bleeding index. Results: The oral hygiene index and community periodontal index were found to be significantly higher in the prison group (p0.05). Based on the duration of stay in prison, individuals who have been imprisoned for longer duration had poor clinical attachment level and oral hygiene. Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded that prisoners have compromised general, oral and periodontal health compared to the general population. They exhibited poor oral health, which may be due to their lifestyle, psychological stress and inappropriate access to health care
