Background:Dental disease is one of the major prevalent preventable public health challenges that resulted in a significant burden on older adults. Aim toAssess oral health, oral health knowledge and oral self-care practicesamong Rural Elderly. Design: Cross-Sectional design was used. Setting: The present study was done at El-Awasja Village, Hehia district, Sharkia Governorate. The study sample included 190 older adults selected by multistage cluster sampling technique. Three tools of data collection: I) A structured interview questionnaire. II) Oral Health Assessment Tool for Non-Dental Professionals. III) Oral Health Knowledge and Oral Self-Care Practices Structured Interview questionnaire. Results: The ages of the studied elderly ranged between 60 and 90 years with an average of 72.64 ± 1.90 years, 63.2% of the studied elderly had poor oral healthwhile, 36.2% of them had good oral health. 76.3% of the elderly had inadequate oral healthknowledge and 69.5% of them had poor oral self-care practice.Also, the study revealed highly significant negative correlations between total oral health status of the studied elderly and their oral health knowledge and their oral self-care practice. Conclusions: More than two thirds of the studied elderly had poor oral health status, majority of them had inadequate oral health knowledge, and poor oral self-care practice.Age, educational level, living condition, total knowledge about oral health, total oral self-care practice were statistically significant predictors of elderly's total oral health status. Recommendation: Developing and implementing appropriate and effective oral health care programs oriented to rural elderly to improve their oral health knowledge, oral self-care practices, and oral health status.
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