Evaluating The Oral Hygiene Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Among Dental And Medical Students In Kanpur City
Evaluating the Oral hygiene K.A.P. among Dental and Medical students in Kanpur City
Keywords:
Oral health, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, Awareness, Oral health promotionAbstract
Background & Objective: Oral health is essential for general health and well-being throughout life and is a
marker for overall health status. Poor oral health can have a significant effect on quality of life. Oral health behavior
plays an important role in maintaining optimal oral health. Awareness regarding it can lead to the enhancement of
oral health. Aim is to evaluate the Oral hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices among Dental and Medical
students in Kanpur City. Methodology: The present study is a cross sectional descriptive survey. 400 students were
selected from dental and medical colleges of Kanpur city as the targeted population for the study. Convenience
sampling technique was used. A pre- tested, self-structured, close- ended questionnaire consisting of 15 questions
was administered to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding oral hygiene to the targeted
population. The data was collected, compiled and then percentage and frequency distribution were calculated.
Results: It was seen that 80% dental students and 67% medical students considered that oral health is a part of
overall health. It was also seen that the frequency of tooth brushing among dental students was found to be 100%
twice a day and amongst medical students it was 51% twice a day. Finally the visit to the dentist in every 6 months
amongst dental students was higher (100%) than the medical students (35%). Conclusion: From the study conducted,
we can conclude that the awareness regarding knowledge and behaviours amongst dental and medical students was
found to be satisfactory. Hence, there is a need for implementation of more preventive programs immediately on
oral health promotion which can further help in increasing the knowledge, attitude and practices of the students.
[Pradhan D NJIRM2016; 7(2):73-76]
References
Kumar A. Assessment of Oral Hygiene Knowledge,
Attitude, and Practices among Engineering
Students in North Bangalore: A Cross-sectional
Survey. International Journal of Scientific Study.
2015; 3(1):84-89.
2. Suragimath G, Varma A, Zope S, Abbayya K,
Guddad S, Mohitey J. An insight into oral health
practices among 1 st year medical students of
Karad, India: A questionnaire study. Journal of
Dental Research and Scientific Development. 2015;
2(1):3
3. Usman, S, Bhat S, Sargod S. Oral Health Knowledge
and Behavior of Clinical Medical, Dental And
Paramedical Students In Mangalore. J Oral Health
Comm Den. 2007; 1(3):46-48.
4. Permi S, Bhandary R, Thomas B. Randomised cross
sectional study of oral health related knowledge
and behaviour among paramedical students. Nitte
University Journal of Health Science. 2016;5(2):19-
21.5. Al Subait A, Alousaimi M, Geeverghese A, Ali A,
Metwally A. Oral health knowledge, attitude and
behavior among students of age 10–18 years old
attending Jenadriyah festival Riyadh; a crosssectional
study. The Saudi Journal for Dental
Research. 2015:1-6.
6. Sujatha B, Yavagal P, Gomez M. Assessment of oral
health awareness among undergraduate Medical
Students in Davangere city: A cross-sectional
survey. Journal of Indian Association of Public
Health Dentistry. 2014; 12(1):43.
7. Emmanuel A, Chang E. Oral health related
behaviour, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs among
secondary school students in Iringa municipality.
The Dar-es-salaam Medical Students’ Journal.
2010:24-30.
8. Kaur S, Kaur B, Ahuluwalia S. Oral Health
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices amongst Health
Professionals in Ludhiana, India. Dentistry. 2015;
05(07):1-5.
9. Kawamura M, Yip H, Hu D, Komabayashi T. A crosscultural
comparison of dental health attitudes and
behaviour among freshman dental students in
Japan, Hong Kong and West China. International
Dental Journal. 2001; 51:159-163.
10. Zhang S, Lo E, Chu C. Attitude and awareness of
medical and dental students towards collaboration
between medical and dental practice in Hong
Kong. BMC Oral Health. 2015; 15(1).
11. Al-Batayneh O, Owais A, Khader Y. Oral Health
Knowledge and Practices among Diverse University
Students with Access to Free Dental Care: A Cross-
Sectional Study. Open Journal of Stomatology.
2014; 04(03):135-142.
12. Al-Hussaini R, Al-Kandari M, Hamadi T, Al-Mutawa
A, Honkala S, Memon A. Dental Health Knowledge,
Attitudes and Behaviour among Students at the
Kuwait University Health Sciences Centre. Med
Princ Pract. 2003; 12(4):260-265.
13. El-Qaderi S, Taani D. Oral health knowledge and
dental health practices among schoolchildren in
Jerash district/Jordan. International Journal of
Dental Hygiene. 2004; 2(2):78-85.
14. Iwuala S, Adesola U, Beatrice O, Fasanmade O. Oral
self-care practices, dental attendance selfperceived
oral health status of internal status
among internal medicine residents in Nigeria.
European Journal of General Dentistry. 2015;
4(2):79.
15. Rong W, Wang W, Yip H. Attitudes of dental and
medical students in their first and final years of
undergraduate study to oral health behaviour.
European Journal of Dental Education. 2006;
10(3):178-184.
16. Madan C, Arora K, Chadha V, Manjunath B,
Chandrashekar B, Rama Moorthy V.A knowledge,
attitude, and practices study regarding dental floss
among dentists in India. Journal of Indian Society
of Periodontology. 2014; 18(3):361.
