Oral health knowledge, attitude and practices among male Qassim university students

Abstract

Background: Good oral health not only promotes an individual to look and feel good, it also helps in preserving oral functions. Oral health is considered an integral part of an individual's overall health. The study was carried out to assess oral health knowledge and practices among male students of Qassim University.Methods: This study included five hundred and eight Students from (4) male colleges in Qassim University enrolled in that academic year were invited to participate in this survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire consisted of (16) questions, written in Arabic and was pretested. Results: The students had good knowledge on the basic oral health measures. Majority (63%) of them they knew that poor oral health lead to gum disease, (59.1%) students were aware that maintaining oral hygiene by using toothbrush and paste. The attitude toward regular visits to the dentist were necessary (81.5%), they perceived brushing of teeth regularly prevents dental decay (94.9%), Sweets affected the teeth adversely (87.4%) and Soft drinks affect the teeth adversely (84.4%). But still students had poor oral health practices they brush their teeth once daily (71.3%) and brushed for less than the optimal time of two minutes (55.7%). Conclusions: Students had good knowledge on the basic oral health measures, but their attitude regarding oral health was diverse and practices toward oral health were relatively poor. Oral health education programs should be conducted with reinforcement, to close the gap between knowledge and practice.