Caries prevalence, oral health practices/behaviours and dental anxiety levels amongst dental hygiene students: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to determine caries prevalence, oral health practices/behaviours and dental anxiety levels amongst dental hygiene students. Materials and Methods A self‐administered questionnaire was used to determine students’ oral hygiene practices/behaviours. The students were subjected to oral examinations to determine their decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) scores according to the WHO criteria. In addition, the Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS) was used to measure the students’ dental anxiety levels. Results A total of 280 students (mean age: 20.8 years) participated in this study. Amongst the students, 52.8% brush their teeth twice a day, and 17.48% and 15.17% use floss and mouthwash daily, respectively. Moreover, the defined smoking rate was 22.85%. The mean DMFT scores of the preclinical and clinical students were 3.39 ± 3.22 and 3.55 ± 3.19, respectively. Most of the students (82.6%) preferred fluoride toothpaste, and the DMFT scores of those who use and do not use fluoride toothpaste significantly differed (p = 0.031). Furthermore, junk‐food consumption affected the scores for decayed teeth (p = 0.048) and missing teeth (p = 0.039). Most students had low or moderate CDAS scores (CDAS <13), and anxiety scores were lower amongst the clinical students than amongst the preclinical students. Conclusions Although the students demonstrated favourable oral health behaviours/practices and low caries prevalence, their adherence to oral hygiene instructions and to healthy dietary and lifestyle habits should improve. The importance of this topic should be strongly emphasized in the undergraduate curriculum. For this purpose, professional behavioural control methods that suit students’ individual capacities, motivations and therapeutic needs may be employed. The principal findings of similar studies should be evaluated by lecturers to help students adopt optimal oral health practices/behaviours, reducing their dental anxiety levels and improving their professional competencies.

Frequency of Dental Caries in Undergraduate Dental Students

“…Dental caries are five times more prevalent than asthma and seven times more prevalent than hay fever in Pakistan, troubling outcomes for the country's oral health 9 . Due to poor dental hygiene habits, increased sugar intake, and a lack of knowledge about fluoride additives, it is currently a major issue for community health in emerging nations [10][11][12][13] . Therefore, it is not surprising that the WHO is calling for commitments for continuous improvement in oral and dental health 14 .…”