Knowledge and awareness of periodontal diseases among Jordanian University students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background:Oral health plays an important role to maintain the general health. Therefore, controlling periodontal diseases may have a profound health effect. The importance of oral health is still a neglected and ignored social issue because most of the people are unaware of the relationship between oral health and systemic diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of periodontal diseases among Jordan University of science and technology students.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing self-administered structured questionnaires to 906 university students between the ages of 18–30 years after obtaining their verbal consents.Results:A total of 906 students completed the questionnaire. Majority of students reported that they brush their teeth regularly while only 5.1% of students admitted that they never clean their teeth. Roughly one-quarter of students could define dental plaque correctly. A high “percentage” of females and medical students were more aware concerning gum inflammation signs and symptoms than males and students from faculties of engineering and science. Students of medical specialties and females were more aware of the relationship between smoking, diabetes mellitus, and heart diseases on the one hand and periodontal diseases on the other hand compared to opposite comparative groups. A low proportion of students were aware that proper scaling was not harmful to the teeth.Conclusions:In general, our study demonstrated that university students had poor knowledge regarding the etiology of periodontal diseases as well as the role of conventional treatment in maintaining good oral health by preventing the inflammatory process.

Periodontal awareness in medical students of Andhra Pradesh, India - A Survey

“…Hence, it is important that physicians need to be well informed as to the need for dental care and treatments available, which calls for a joint advocacy between the medical and dental professionals. [9][10][11] It is recommended that oral health awareness of the medical students can be improved by incorporating more basic information about oral health in their academic curriculum, conducting various inter-disciplinary workshops, CDE programs and conferences, increasing the clinical exposure of the students to oral findings as most of the systemic diseases manifests in the oral cavity. Special study modules or electives in oral health and disease should be created by involving the dental faculty, emphasizing the importance of oral health.…”

“…Special study modules or electives in oral health and disease should be created by involving the dental faculty, emphasizing the importance of oral health. [10][11][12] Medical practitioners should play an active role in oral health promotion. Proper knowledge of oral diseases is crucial in medical practice due to the following reasons (a) Periodontal diseases are associated with multiple systemic conditions of medical interest; (b) A large number of systemic diseases have oral manifestations; (c) Many drugs are associated with oral adverse drug reactions; and (d) majority of the population approach medical practitioners for their oral health problems.…”

Relationship Between Risk Factors and Periodontal Disease Among Patients in Community Health Centers

“…This result shows that there is a relationship between the knowledge level and the occurrence of periodontal disease. 12 Knowledge allows individuals to change their behavior. The change depends on the level of comprehension they have regarding the periodontal disease.…”

“…Good knowledge will influence healthy attitude towards health improvement, especially in the oral and dental area. 12 The chi-square analysis result shows that there is a significant relationship in the occurrence periodontal disease (p<0.05). Periodontal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes is generally in form of chronic inflammation.…”

Effect of Patient's Knowledge and OHI-S on Periodontal Disease Among Age Group 19–64 Years in the Dental Clinic at the Community Health Centre, Bareng, Malang

“…The importance of oral health is still a neglected social problem because some people do not know the impact of dental and oral health problems and it is one of which triggers a dangerous systemic disease in human body [13]. Therefore, sufficient awareness and knowledge will maintain oral health [13]. To be able to change a person's behaviour or overt behaviour, knowledge becomes one of the factors that can influence it persistently.…”