Abstract

EVALUATION OF ORAL HYGIENE AWARENESS AND PRACTICES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Ashita Ajith*, Dhanya Dharman, Deepa Manohar, Shaiju S Daran, Ashima Basher and Asha Lincon

ABSTRACT

Oral diseases are major public health concern due to high prevalence and its impact on quality of life.Many studies have shown that lack of knowledge among rural people and negligent behavior among urban people are causes of dental diseases. Hence the present study was conducted to evaluate oral hygiene awareness and dental health problems in medical students. A Cross sectional study was carried out on pharmacy students. All the students (65) present on the day of data collection were included in the study. Data was collected by pretested questionnaire and analyzed using percentages. Awareness among students about oral hygiene was good. All students in our study were brushing the teeth at least daily with tooth brush and paste. Only few students (12.30%) were using fluoride tooth paste and 64.61% were unaware of fluoride content. About 24.61% students had Pain/Discomfort in Past 12 Months and 32.30% consulted dentist. The better result among pharmacy students could be due to their better knowledge and socio economic conditions. Developing countries show lack of awareness and poor oral hygiene habits among large sections of the population, increasing the risk of oral health problems. More awareness should be created among general population to improve the oral health.

Keywords: Awareness, Oral hygiene, Dental health, Pharmacy students.