Objective:The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of oral hygiene practices, smoking habits and halitosis among undergraduate dental students and correlating the oral hygiene practices, oral health conditions to the prevalence of self perceived oral malodour.Materials and Methods:A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 277 male and female students. A questionnaire was developed to assess the self-reported perception of oral breath, awareness of bad breath, timing of bad breath, oral hygiene practices, caries and bleeding gums, dryness of the mouth, smoking and tongue coating.Results:The results indicate female students had better oral hygiene practices. Significantly less self-reported oral bad breath (P = 0.007) was found in female dental students (40%) as compared to their male counterparts (58%). It was found that smoking and dryness of mouth had statistically significant correlation with halitosis (P = 0.026, P = 0.001). Presence of other oral conditions such as tongue coating and dental caries and bleeding gums also showed higher prevalence of halitosis in dental students.Conclusion:A direct correlation exists between oral hygiene practices and oral health conditions with halitosis. Females exhibited better oral hygiene practices and less prevalence of halitosis as compared to male students.

Oral health has a significant impact on the quality of life, appearance, and self-esteem of the people. Preventive dental visits help in the early detection and treatment of oral diseases. Dental care utilization can be defined as the percentage of the population who access dental services over a specified period of time. There are reports that dental patients only visit the dentist when in pain and never bother to return for follow-up in most cases. To improve oral health outcomes an adequate knowledge of the way the individuals use health services and the factors predictive of this behavior is essential. The interest in developing models explaining the utilization of dental services has increased; issues like dental anxiety, price, income, the distance a person had to travel to get care, and preference for preservation of teeth are treated as barriers in regular dental care. Published materials which pertain to the use of dental services by Indian population have been reviewed and analyzed in depth in the present study. Dental surgeons and dental health workers have to play an adequate role in facilitating public enlightenment that people may appreciate the need for regular dental care and make adequate and proper use of the available dental care facilities.

Pregnancy is a unique period during a woman's life and is characterized by complex physiological changes, which may adversely affect oral health. The present systematic review was conducted to assess knowledge and awareness regarding oral health among pregnant women in India. Relevant cross-sectional observational studies were included in the systematic review to assess the level of knowledge and awareness regarding oral health among pregnant women in India. Seven studies out of 255 were finally included in the present review after conducting both electronic and manual search of scientific databases. Potential biases were reported and appropriate data were extracted by the concerned investigators. Almost 67% of the subjects had good knowledge and awareness regarding oral health in one of the study findings. Knowledge regarding effect of decayed teeth on the appearance of the people was significantly related to the parity status of the subjects (P = 0.024) in other study reports. Very few subjects (17.1% and 37.5%) felt the need for visiting a dentist during pregnancy in two studies. The results of the present review showed that pregnant women had poor knowledge and awareness regarding oral health. Therefore, there is an urgent need for education and motivation of expectant mothers regarding oral health through various health promotion interventions.

Background. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) continues to spread globally. It has become a major cause of concern for health care professionals all over the world. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, awareness and hygiene practices regarding COVID-19 among private dental practitioners practicing in Tricity (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali) in India during these critical times. Materials and Methods. A total of 245 private dentists participated in this cross-sectional survey and finally 215 constituted the final sample size. A self-administered, multiple choice type questionnaire (verified by a specialist) was administered to obtain information from the subjects. The questionnaire was divided into two parts and included 15 questions on knowledge and awareness regarding COVID-19. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA and Student’s t-test. Results. Percentage of subjects who answered correctly regarding main symptoms of COVID-19 and primary mode of transmission was 87% and 82.5% respectively. One-third of the subjects were not aware regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be used while rendering dental treatment. 75% of subjects were of the opinion that supportive care is the current treatment regime for COVID-19. Less than one-third of subjects (30.2%) reported high scores. Education level (p=0.018) and health sector profile (p=0.024) of the subjects were significantly associated with mean knowledge scores. Conclusion. The findings of the present study showed that some notable deficiencies in knowledge existed among dental professionals regarding some vital aspects of COVID-19. Therefore, there is an urgent need for improving dentists’ knowledge via health education and training programs. Further studies on the subject are also warranted once the situation normalizes.

Dentistry is neither an allied health profession nor a paramedical profession. It is the only anatomically focused health care profession that is university-based and for which primary care responsibility is maintained by the profession. Dentists must have a reliable knowledge of basic clinical medicine for safely and effectively treating individuals with chronic and other diseases, which make them biologically and pharmacologically compromised. With changes in the life expectancy of people and lifestyles, as well as rapid advancement in biomedical sciences, dentists should have similar knowledge like a physician in any other fields of medicine. There are number of primary care activities that can be conducted in the dental office like screening of diabetics, managing hypertension etc., The present review was conducted after doing extensive literature search of peer-reviewed journals. The review throws a spotlight on these activities and also suggests some the measures that can be adopted to modify dental education to turn dentists to oral physicians.