Oral Health Knowledge and Practices of Secondary School Students, Tanga, Tanzania

Lorna Carneiro,Mathias Makyao,Msafiri Kabulwa,Ramadhani Choum,Goodluck Mrosso

doi:10.1155/2011/806258

Abstract

A good quality of life is possible if students maintain their oral health and become free of oral disease. A structured questionnaire assessed 785 students' level of oral health knowledge and practices. About 694 (88.4%) students had adequate level of knowledge on causes, prevention, and signs of dental caries, 760 (96.8%) on causes and prevention of periodontal diseases, 695 (88.5%) on cigarette smoking as cause of oral cancer, and 770 (98.1%) students on importance of dental checkups. Majority 717 (91.3%) had adequate practice of sugary food consumption; while 568 (72.4%) had acceptable frequency of tooth brushing, 19 (2.4%) brushed at an interval of twelve hours, and 313 (39.9%) visited for checkup. Majority of students had an adequate level of knowledge on oral health but low level of oral health practices. Both genders had similar level of knowledge with male predominance in oral health practices. Age had no influence on the level of oral health knowledge and practices of students.

Highlights

Oral health as an essential aspect of general health can be defined as “a standard of health of the oral and related tissues which enables an individual to eat, speak, and socialize without active disease, discomfort or embarrassment and which contributes to general well-being” [1]
To address the noted deficiency, a simple oral health education manual was designed to answer the educational needs of the pupils, and using it as a framework, sessions taught both the concepts and the skills of oral health care in a manner that actively involved the pupils in the learning process [9], and it was shown that pupils actively studied the concepts and practical skills for dietary choices and tooth brushing [10]
Results from this study revealed a high proportion of students with adequate level of knowledge on oral health, and these findings are similar to those reported in other studies done in Tanzania, [11, 12] and Kuwait [13]

Summary

Introduction

Oral health as an essential aspect of general health can be defined as “a standard of health of the oral and related tissues which enables an individual to eat, speak, and socialize without active disease, discomfort or embarrassment and which contributes to general well-being” [1]. Oral health knowledge is considered to be an essential prerequisite for health-related practices [2], and studies have shown that there is an association between increased knowledge and better oral health [3, 4]. The district local governments have a basket fund that can be used to promote oral health education programs among the priority groups like RCH clinics and the community as a whole including secondary school students. It is the responsibility of the dental personnel at regional, International Journal of Dentistry district, and health centres to ensure adequate deliverance of oral health education [9]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion