Dental attendance and teeth cleaning characteristics among medical and pharmacy students

Abstract

Introduction: Oral hygiene and dental attendance are the major factors responsible for the actualization of a healthy mouth. The objective of this study was to assess dental attendance and teeth cleaning characteristics among medical and pharmacy students. Materials and Methods: A stratified randomly selected medical and dental students of the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria were studied using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Results: About three-quarters (74.9%) of the participants have never visited the dental clinic (77.9% of medical students vs. 71.9% of pharmacy students). Less than half (43.4%) indulge in twice-daily teeth cleaning frequency. Of which 42.5% were medical students and 44.2% were pharmacy students. The leading principal reason for teeth cleaning was to have fresh breath and 52.1% was reported in medical students and 50.4% in pharmacy students. Receipt of professional teeth cleaning instruction was reported by 9.8% of the participants (9.2% of medical students and 10.3% of pharmacy students). Medium texture toothbrush use was reported among 30.9% (29.2% medical students and 32.6% pharmacy students) of the participants. A total of 60% (62.9% of medical students and 57% of pharmacy students) clean teeth more than 4 min. Horizontal brushing technique was reported among 31.5% of the respondents (32.5% in medical students and 30.6% in pharmacy students). Toothbrush renewal frequency of 1–3 months was 47.7% (47.5% of medical students and 47.9% of pharmacy students). The use of dental floss was low (3.5%) among the participants with 2.9% and 4.1% were medical and pharmacy students, respectively. Conclusion: Suboptimal dental attendance and teeth cleaning characteristics which were not significantly difference were found among the studied medical and pharmacy students.