Abstract
Objective: To assess the current level of oral health knowledge and identify information sources among adolescents in Bhubaneswar, India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted among 1330 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years enrolled in 24 randomly selected government and private schools in Bhubaneswar. A specially designed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the responses. Chi-square test with a level of significance set at 5% was used for statistical analysis. Results: Parents (55%) followed by media (18%) were the major sources of oral health information among the study population, which was statistically not significant in relation to gender and school type. Many subjects (95.3%) perceived sweets could cause tooth decay; however, this was statistically significant only among school type (p<0.05). Around (45%) knew about fluoride and only 36% properly identified fluoride's action as preventing cavities. This was statistically significant among both gender and school type (p<0.05). Seventy-five percent of students effectively distinguished gum disease symptoms, which was significant only with gender (p<0.05). Around 55% identified that oral habits have an influence on oral health, which showed significance among gender (p<0.05). Conclusion: Children oral health knowledge was not satisfactory, highlighting the need to utilize parents, schoolteachers and media to provide oral health education. It’s essential for designing and implementing a person-centered care model in dentistry.
Highlights
Children are the most valuable part of a community and it is an ethical obligation to bestow them with healthy living habits
Material and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was conducted among 1330 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years enrolled in 24 randomly selected government and private schools in Bhubaneswar
Oral diseases can be averted by using right oral health behaviour [6,7]
Summary
Children are the most valuable part of a community and it is an ethical obligation to bestow them with healthy living habits. Several studies have reported that parents and school teachers can assume a significant job in grooming healthy habits in children [2,3,4]. In studies on predominant chronic diseases, additional accentuation has been positioned on the influence of health behavior in place of standard risk factors [5]. This concept has unfolded to the field of dentistry as well. Oral health behavior is associated with various factors together with dental expertise [8,9], attitude [9], lifestyle [10], stress [11,12], schooling level [13], socioeconomic status [14], feel of coherence [15], and selfefficacy [16]
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