Oral hygiene practices and habits among dental professionals in Chennai

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess the oral hygiene practices and habits among practicing general dentists. The study was carried out in four dental schools with the help of a self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire covered dentists' oral self care, smoking habits, professional reading and oral health concepts. A total of 700 dentists responded, of which 457 were males. Recommended oral self care (ROSC) included tooth brushing one per day, eating sugary snacks daily or rarely and regularly using fluoride tooth paste. The data obtained was then subjected to statistical analyses and evaluated using chi-square tests and logistic regressions.It was found that 55.9% of all respondents brushed twice a day, 59.4% consumed sugar containing snacks less than once daily and 55.1% of them used fluoride containing paste regularly while brushing. 81.1% of the 700 dentists never used tobacco products. In all, 19.6% of the practicing general dentists followed recommended oral self care. From the present study, it can be concluded that only 19.6% of south Indian dentists follow recommended oral self care and hence awareness programs and continuous dental education programs among dentists is essential to improve the present scenario and to increase the number of dental professionals following ROSC.