Knowledge, attitude, and practices of oral hygiene among college students in Bengaluru city

Introduction: Poor oral health can have a profound effect on the quality of life. The experience of pain, endurance of dental abscesses, problems with eating and chewing, embarrassment about the shape of teeth or about missing, discolored or damaged teeth can adversely affect people's daily lives and well-being. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of oral hygiene among college students in Bengaluru city. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered 21-item structured questionnaire that assessed oral health and hygiene knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 499 students from various professions. 202 engineering students, 99 MBA/BBM students, 99 nursing students, and 99 students from B.Com. The study was conducted during June and July 2013. The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Chi-square test using SPSS version 14. All tests were set at a 0.05 significance level. Results: The toothbrush with toothpaste is the most common oral hygiene aid used for cleaning teeth, which was adopted by 304 (60.9%) students. More than half 287 (57.5) of the students felt that dental caries affected their esthetics. 358 (71.7) students felt that the health of the mouth and dentition had an impact on the health of the body. Conclusion: The toothbrush with toothpaste is the most common oral hygiene aid used for cleaning teeth; it was observed that a greater number of students brushed their teeth in the morning. Dental pain was the main reason to visit a dentist.