A survey of oral hygiene practices amongst dental students

Abstract

Introduction: Oral hygiene measures are put into practice in order to maintain an oral environment free of germs and diseases. Oral diseases have a high prevalence and they pose a great threat to an individual’s quality of life. Oral self-practices of dental students allow them to become a role model to others, thus propagating the importance of oral hygiene. Aim was to investigate the awareness of oral hygiene habits and practices amongst the dental students.

Material and Methods: All undergraduate students enrolled at the dental section of Islamabad medical and dental college were given a self- administered structured, anonymous questionnaire after taking verbal consent. The answers of the filled questionnaires were entered and analyzed through SPSS version 22.

Results: Out of a total of 196 dental students included in the study many were not practicing the oral hygiene etiquette properly. No noteworthy differences were found when comparing the results for students in the pre-clinical and clinical years.

Conclusions: Dental students of this study expressed lack of oral self-hygiene practices with increasing year of their education. Students should be encouraged to include oral self-care practices in their daily lives, to promulgate the importance of a disease free mouth and to become role models for the patients and society.