Oral Health Knowledge and Habits of Senior Elementary School Students

Abstract

Despite improvements in children's dental health, and significant resource allocation to health education programs, few recent studies have investigated the associations of oral health knowledge, behaviors, and status. This study of 11-year-old children (N = 6,329) in northeastern Ontario used a supervised self-complete questionnaire and a clinical examination to gather baseline data on, and test associations of, caries and periodontal knowledge, self-reported oral health behaviors and source of knowledge, and oral health status. Results show the children had poor knowledge of caries preventive measures such as water fluoridation, dental sealants, and choice of snack foods. Periodontal knowledge was better, but children confused plaque and calculus. Respondents claimed good oral health habits, with 73 percent claiming to brush at least twice daily, 88 percent claiming to use toothpaste, 42 percent claim to floss at least twice weekly, and 84 percent claiming an annual dental visit. Children with the best knowledge claimed dentist and school as the sources. High knowledge was associated with good oral health habits (P less than .001) and low DMFT score (P less than .001). Good habits were not related to DMFT score (P = .1095). Logistic regression showed high knowledge was associated with English cultural status, urban school area, good habits, having a dental sealant, and attending a fluoride-rinse school (P less than .05). Findings suggest a need to reinforce caries preventive teaching, to investigate the effect of cultural status, dental experience, and residence status on oral health knowledge, and to further test the efficacy of different oral health education programs delivered by different sources.

Assessment of Oral Hygiene awareness in Geriatric patients attending OPD at ESIC Dental College, Rohini, New Delhi

“…Only 6% of the subjects has used dental loss, which is similar to a study conducted by Jamjoom in Saudi Arabia in 2001 [7]. In contrast, Hamilton and Couby [8] found that a high percentage (44%) of the sample they studied in north eastern Ontario used dental loss. Reason for this may be the signi icant resource allocation to health education programs that are carried out in Canada.…”

Oral Health Knowledge and Attitude as Determinants of Oral Health Behavior in a Sample of Old People in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

“…For instance, Hamilton and Coulby reported that increase in oral health knowledge was positively correlated with improved behavior and stated that knowledge of health is an important predictor for behavior [4]. The result of Hamilton and Coulby was further confirmed by Ashley [20].…”

“…These findings are in agreement with the findings of Daly [19], who reported that positive attitude would lead to improved health behavior. Hamilton and Coulby [4] and Ashley [20] had earlier reported that increase in oral health attitude is positively correlated with improved behavior. Singh et al [22] reported a linear positive relationship oral health attitude and behavior.…”

“…Education is important for the adoption of informed lifestyle choices among individuals [2]. Studies have shown that there is an association between knowledge and better oral health [3,4]. This knowledge is usually obtained from information which subsequently translates into action.…”

Oral health knowledge, attitude and practices among male Qassim university students

“…10 Previous Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between increased knowledge of oral hygiene and better oral health. 11 That mean Oral health knowledge is considered to be an essential prerequisite for health-related behaviour, although only a weak association seems to exist between knowledge and behaviour in crosssectional studies. 9,12 Nevertheless, studies have shown that there is an association between increased knowledge and better oral health.…”