Oral Health Habits In Dental Students At The University Of Chile

Oral Health Habits in Dental Students at the University of Chile

Oral Health Habits In Dental Students At The University Of Chile

Summary

Dental students are agents involved in the education of oral care. No national studies describing their oral hygiene habits have been published.

Objective

Describe the proportion of dentistry students of the University of Chile with healthy oral hygiene habits according to sex, socioeconomic level and years of studies.

Material and method

Descriptive cross-sectional study. We selected, by simple random sampling with proportional ation, 150 students between 1st and 4th year. A questionnaire was applied on oral hygiene habits, which included the use and frequency of brushing, dental floss and mouth rinsing, time elapsed since the last visit to the dentist and sociodemographic variables. An Oral Hygiene Habits Index was created that included brushing at least twice a day, flossing daily and visiting the dentist at least once a year.

Results

98% brushed their teeth at least twice a day, 37% used flossing daily and 74% had gone to the dentist at least once in the last year. Only 30% presented a positive result for the Oral Hygiene Habits index. No significant differences were detected according to sex, socioeconomic level and years of studies.

Conclusions

Dentistry students of the University of Chile have a high frequency of dental brushing and frequently consult the dentist; however, the use of dental floss is low. Future studies should analyze other variables involved in better oral health care in this group.

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Abstract

Dental students are agents involved in the education of oral care. There are no published studies that describe their oral hygiene habits in Chile.

Objective

To describe the proportion of dental students at the University of Chile with healthy oral hygiene habits by sex, socioeconomic status and years of study.

Material and methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study on 150 students from 1st-4th year of dentistry studies were selected by simple sampling with proportional allocation. A questionnaire on oral hygiene habits that included questions about the use and frequency of brushing and flossing, mouthwashes use, time since the last dental visit and sociodemographic variables were used. An index about oral hygiene was constructed including brushing at least twice a day, flossing at least eleven a day and visiting your dentist at least eleven a year.

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Results

About 98% of students brushing teeth at least twice daily, 37% used dental floss daily and 74% had visited the dentist at least eleven in the past year. Only 30% of students had a positive outcome for the oral hygiene index. No significant differences by gender, socioeconomic status and years of study were observed.

Conclusions

Dental students at the University of Chile show high frequency of tooth brushing and frequently visit the dentist, however, flossing is low. Future studies should also discuss other variables involved in better oral health care in this group.