Abstract
Oral health knowledge is considered to be an essential prerequisite for health related behavior. Studies have shown that there is an association between knowledge and better oral health. Although many studies have been carried out from time to time to assess the knowledge and behavior of people about oral health, there is still a dearth of education regarding the same especially for rural people in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the present study is to identify the daily performed oral hygiene practices and awareness of Saudi dental patients towards oral hygiene maintenance and to assist Saudi dental authorities to provide and enhance the governmental dental services. After obtaining the Institutional Ethical Committee approval, 199 Saudi nationals (male & female) visiting the dental clinics, College of dentistry, Qassim University were selected randomly and questionnaires were handed over for the needed information. The data was statistically evaluated using Chi square test. p value of 0.05 will be considered as level of significance. The results showed statistically significant results with respect to the parameters such as methods and frequency of tooth brushing, responses related to use of other dental cleaning Aids, Awareness for oral-systemic health relations, frequency and cause of visiting dentist and awareness about bleeding gums & oral Mal-odor. It is concluded that even though there is fair knowledge about the oral health awareness among the people, more awareness projects are needed by the higher Saudi authorities in implementing and following them meticulously for better overall oral and general health.
Highlights
Oral hygiene is to no surprise the core of preventive dentistry that must be emphasized upon and ensure that it is considered seriously by both the dental professional and dental service seeker
Our study shows that female patients have more awareness towards utilization of dental services as well as more dental cleaning aids than the male patients, which supports the reports of Helsinki et al [6]
The present study emphasizes on the awareness of Saudi patients towards oral health maintenance habits and as well about systemic-oral health relationship
Summary
Oral hygiene is to no surprise the core of preventive dentistry that must be emphasized upon and ensure that it is considered seriously by both the dental professional and dental service seeker. When given its rightfully earned place in the field of dentistry, oral hygiene education and emphasizing of oral health practices can and will be extremely helpful in changing the dental professional service both in the level of required services and the level of noticed results. Simple daily dental hygiene practices save much efforts and money as well that would be spent just to restore one’s oral health status to normal. Out a survey titled “Oral Hygiene Practice among Saudi patients in Jeddah” [1] the objective of which was to investigate the oral self-care habits (frequency of tooth brushing and flossing) and the attitude towards preventive dental visits. The lack of patient compliance in home care and regular dental visit can be seen as the key problem in the prevention of periodontal disease [1]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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 callMore From: International Journal of Dental Sciences and Research
Disclaimer: 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.
