Oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviour of dental students in a private university

Abstract

IntroductionThe positive attitude and behaviour of dental students can be improved during their undergraduate studies and is considered an essential factor in promoting the oral self-care habits of their patients and society in general.AimThis study was conducted to evaluate the oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviours among undergraduate dental students at a private university, based on the year of undergraduate studies.Material and methodsA self-administered questionnaire based on the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioural Inventory was distributed among 783 undergraduate dental students from 1st to 5th year. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. The Mann–Whitney U test and one-way ANOVA tests (Kruskal–Wallis test) were used.ResultsThe scores of oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviour between preclinical and clinical dental students were found to have statistically significant differences (P < 0.001). The variation of knowledge, attitude and behaviour scores from 1st to 5th year undergraduate studies was shown to be statistically significant with the year of study (P < 0.001). The study showed significant improvement in the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the final year dental students as compared with the 1st year dental students.ConclusionPreclinical students need properly designed oral health educational programs to increase their attitude and behaviour toward oral health.

Oral Health Attitudes among Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students in Germany

“…In accordance with previous studies from Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania and India [4,10,11,32], clinical students in Germany showed more frequent toothbrushing at least twice daily or after every meal (Items 4 and 5) than their preclinical fellow students. However, in strong discrepancy with previous investigations [4,10,11,31], preclinical dental students in Germany indicated being more attentive about their dentition and oral health and caring more about their dental aesthetics and halitosis (Items 13 and 16). Furthermore, preclinical participants using a professional brushing technique (Item 7) for each of their teeth (Item 9), as well as a more frequent use of dental floss (Item 11) and mouthwashes (Item 12) unexpectedly demonstrated higher percentages.…”

“…Moreover, clinical students correspondingly stated being bothered about their gingival aesthetics (Item 15), using soft tissue-unfavourable tooth brushes (Item 8) [33] and reported bleeding gums (Item 6) more than the preclinical group, indicating better self-reported periodontal health of the preclinical students. Clinical dental students were also significantly more likely to clean their teeth without toothpaste (Item 14) compared to preclinical participants, in compliance with previous investigations in Turkey [4], Egypt [10] and India [34]. In addition, most of the preclinical students thought that their teeth would get worse despite daily brushing (Item 10), reflecting less oral health knowledge as described in earlier surveys [10].…”

“…The results revealed that the majority of dental preclinical and clinical students of the study population care about their oral health. Nevertheless, the more frequent regular dental visits among preclinical dental students exhibited contrasting results to similar studies in other countries as Turkey [4], Egypt [10] and Saudi Arabia [11] (Item 3). This might be due to the possibility of regular dental check-ups of clinical students during their clinical semester courses by their fellow students or supervisors.…”

“…This might be due to the possibility of regular dental check-ups of clinical students during their clinical semester courses by their fellow students or supervisors. However, the overall rate of regular dental visits of both groups showed the highest percentage compared to similar studies performed in the Middle East, Asia and Europe [4,10,11,31].…”

“…Recently, several studies evaluated this educational transition in different regions of the world comparing the oral health attitudes and behaviour among preclinical and clinical dental students as primary signs for educational progress. Several outcomes displayed significant improvements of oral health manners in clinical students [4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], whereas others observed a less effective preclinical-clinical transition [18,19]. Examining the literature, no similar investigation was found in Germany.…”