Abstract
Dentists play a key role in the primary prevention of oral diseases and related systemic complications; therefore, their views on behavioural interventions need to be aligned with the current agendas for oral health. Likewise, dental students’ oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours (KAB) are of practical importance, as they are the future opinion leaders for oral health in their respective communities. A cross-sectional survey-based study was designed to evaluate the oral health KAB of dental students in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The study utilized translated versions of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI), and it aimed to recruit students from all Czech and Slovak dental schools. A total of 487 students were included in this study, out of which 372 (76.4%) were females, 271 (55.6%) were enrolled in preclinical years, 68 (14%) reported smoking tobacco at least once a week, and 430 (88.3%) reported problematic internet use. The mean HU-DBI score of Czech and Slovak dental students (8.18 ± 1.80) was comparable with the previously reported scores of dental students in Nordic and Western European countries. Czech students (9.34 ± 1.29) had a significantly higher score than their Slovak counterparts (7.56 ± 1.73). In both countries, preclinical students (8.04 vs. 8.35), the students who reported tobacco smoking (7.63 vs. 8.27), and those who reported problematic internet use (8.11 vs. 8.70) had significantly lower HU-DBI scores than their counterparts, respectively. In the Czech Republic, the significant increases in HU-DBI scores occurred after the first academic year when the students received preventive dentistry courses; therefore, one can put forward that early implementation of preventive elements in undergraduate dental curricula may yield better and more sustainable oral health gains for the students. Future research on Czech and Slovak dental curricula need to re-evaluate the oral hygiene and anti-smoking components and their impact on students’ views and attitudes.
Highlights
In May 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) undertook a historic step by approving a resolution on oral health that incorporates oral health within the vision of 2030 for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) [1]
The present study found that the mean Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI) score of Czech dental students
Our findings suggest that tobacco smoking may be associated with poor oral health KAB among dental students; calling for a re-evaluation of the currently implemented anti-smoking curricula in
Summary
In May 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) undertook a historic step by approving a resolution on oral health that incorporates oral health within the vision of 2030 for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) [1]. The WHO member states are urged to address the modifiable risk factors of oral diseases that are shared with non-communicable diseases, such as free sugar intake and tobacco use [1,2]. The primary prevention of oral diseases implies multiple behavioural targets such as twice-daily toothbrushing, periodic dental check-ups, sugar intake reduction, and smoking cessation, which require multi-level and multi-sectorial approaches to be achieved [3]. Multiple systematic reviews have recently shown that there is convincing evidence on the immediate effect of educational and promotional interventions in oral health, which justify the need for more active and incentivized roles of dentists and dental hygienists in behavioural counselling [11–16]. Given the public perceptions of physicians and dentists as exemplary models for healthy lifestyles, the promotional roles of dentists are not limited to teaching proper brushing techniques, but they can be extended to include other behavioural targets, e.g., tobacco cessation, moderate alcohol consumption, physical activity, healthy nutrition, and immunization [20–28]
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