Abstract
Background Oral health is dependent on the knowledge and awareness of the individuals. Teachers as individuals influence the children in every aspect including oral health maintenance. The objective of this study was to assess the oral health knowledge, attitude, practices, and oral health status among school teachers in Chitwan District, Nepal. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 550 school teachers of private and government schools in Chitwan District, to assess the knowledge, attitude, practices, and oral health status. Descriptive analysis was done and data were analyzed using chi-square. A five-point Likert Scale was applied to compute knowledge, attitude, and practices of the school teachers. Results Most of the school teachers had good knowledge about periodontal diseases in comparison to dental caries. Private school (20.7% : 57) teachers had higher good oral health knowledge as compared to government school teachers (9.8% : 27). An almost equal percentage of private and government teachers (73.5% : 202 and 74.2% : 204, respectively) were found with fair knowledge about oral health. Males had a higher percentage for good oral health knowledge as compared to females. Conclusion There is an incredible need to improve oral health knowledge and attitude among school teachers concerning different problems of the oral cavity and the avoidance of dental diseases. These enhancements can be applied through regular training of teachers by oral health seminars, materials, and other such types of methods.
Highlights
Oral health is a primary division of overall health
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 550 govt. and private school teachers of Chitwan district, selected by stratified random sampling method. e study took place over four months from 16th October 2020 to 15th January 2021
52.7% (145) were male teachers and 47.3% (130) were females. e observations are similar to the study done by Manjunath and Kumar [5] (2013), in which there was a higher percentage of female teachers than male teachers. e reason could be because, in a country like India, there are disparities in education between private and government schools
Summary
Oral health is a primary division of overall health. As the oral cavity is the doorway for the human being body, any damage to oral health can be evident in the oral cavity and in other parts of the body. E objective of this study was to assess the oral health knowledge, attitude, practices, and oral health status among school teachers in Chitwan District, Nepal. A crosssectional study was conducted on 550 school teachers of private and government schools in Chitwan District, to assess the knowledge, attitude, practices, and oral health status. Most of the school teachers had good knowledge about periodontal diseases in comparison to dental caries. Private school (20.7% : 57) teachers had higher good oral health knowledge as compared to government school teachers (9.8% : 27). Ere is an incredible need to improve oral health knowledge and attitude among school teachers concerning different problems of the oral cavity and the avoidance of dental diseases. Conclusion. ere is an incredible need to improve oral health knowledge and attitude among school teachers concerning different problems of the oral cavity and the avoidance of dental diseases. ese enhancements can be applied through regular training of teachers by oral health seminars, materials, and other such types of methods
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
