Investigation of oral health status in 3 516 undergraduate university students

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the oral health status of undergraduate university students and to guide their oral hygiene behaviors. METHODS: 3516 college students in Northwest University for Nationalities were investigated in this study according to the criterion issued by World Health Organization (WHO) on the basic methods of oral health investigation in 1997. RESULTS: The caries prevalence rate among the students investigated was 47.87%. The average decayed teeth were 1.29. The obturation rate of caries was 20.42%. The students came from city showed significant higher caries rate than those from countryside, and so did the female students compared with the male students. Dental calculus rate was 79.78%. The dental segments related were 3.75. The worst situation was among male students and students from countryside. The examined rates were 53.30% of crowded incisor, 42.58% of maximum upper-incisor anomaly, 50.60% of the maximum lower-incisor anomaly and 31.09% of molar malposition, respectively. More rates of dentofacial anomalies showed no differences of significance between different area and gender. CONCLUSION: In general, the oral health status of the college students are not ideal. It is necessary to advocate early examination, early prevention and early treatment among the students in university.