Relationship of periodontal status and dental caries status with oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior among professional students in India.

AIM

To find the relationship of periodontal status and dental caries status with oral health knowledge, attitude, behavior, among professional students in India.

METHODOLOGY

In a cross sectional study, a total of 825 students (males: 577, females: 248) from six professions were surveyed using a self administered structured questionnaire including 41 multiple choice questions and the WHO Oral Health Assessment Form (1997). The data was analyzed using the SPSS version 13.0 to perform the Student's t-test, ANOVA test, Scheffe's test and Chi-square test, linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

The mean percentage scores of the students for knowledge were 53.25 +/- 15.05; for attitude 74.97 +/- 20.48; and for behavior 59.09 +/- 18.77. The percentage of students with calculus score was found to be significantly high (43.8%). The percentage of professional students with DMFT >4 was 14.1% and the percentage of students with decayed teeth was 46.2%. The regression analysis showed that the oral health behavior of the students was dependent on the attitude (P < 0.001), but showed no significant linear relation with the knowledge. Also, that the mean DMFT score was dependent on the oral health behavior (P < 0.05), but showed no significant relationship with the knowledge and attitude of the students. The periodontal status was independent on the knowledge, but showed a significant relationship with attitude and behavior of the students.

CONCLUSION

A positive attitude and adherence to good oral hygiene behaviors is associated with better oral health.