Are Iranian graduating dental students prepared to act as future role models of good oral health behaviour? A 10-year study.

Abstract

Dentists by their professional knowledge of prevention have a key role in providing a positive role model for oral health-promoting behaviours. We aimed to investigate the health behaviour of Iranian senior dental students in terms of oral self-care and tobacco use during a 10-year period to assess their preparedness to act as role models for health-promoting behaviours. The study was performed in six dental schools selected through stratified cluster random sampling to have a representative sample of all dental schools in Iran. Data were collected in four occasions in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015. Senior dental students (N= 1188) were invited to voluntarily complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire about their oral self-care and tobacco use. Recommended tooth-brushing habit (RTH) was defined as at least twice a day brushing with fluoridated toothpaste. Three separate questions about cigarette, pipe and waterpipe use were applied to assess the students' reported use of tobacco. The response rate was 81%. Female students reported more frequently RTH than males (p< .001). The reported RTH was more prevalent among nonsmokers. In 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2015, 22.5%, 26%, 28.5% and 24.6% of the students reported smoking, respectively. The trend of reported smoking had the least variation among female students. This was true also for male students regarding RTH. The status and trend of oral self-care and tobacco use among Iranian dental students call for more emphasis on adopting health-promoting behaviours during dental education.