Evaluation of awareness about dental points among dentists and defense aspirants: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim and Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate the awareness about dental points among dentists and defense aspirants.Settings and Design: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study.Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty dentists and 250 defense aspirants were included in the study. A self-assessed questionnaire was formulated separately for the dentists (nine items) and the defense aspirants (ten items) to assess the awareness about dental points, in which six questions were common for both the groups.Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square goodness-of-fit test was used to compare the differences in the responses to the questions specific to the dentist and defense aspirant groups.Results: It shows that 56.9% of the defense aspirants and only 35.8% of the dentists were aware about scoring system which is necessary for defense selection. Nearly 59.9% of the dentists did not have adequate knowledge about the scoring system.Conclusion: Creating awareness is the first step of oral health education. Hence, dental health educational programs should be actively conducted in all health sectors of India to increase the awareness about dental points.