Oral Health; Perception of Oral Health and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among the Students’ of Liaquat Medical University Jamshoro.

Abstract

ABSTRACT… Objectives: This study was carried out to evaluate the dental students' perception about condition of their gums and teeth and prevalence of dental caries. Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Setting: Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences. Period: July 2011 to December 2011. Material and Method: The sample size was 200 students comprising of both male and female. Clinical Oral examination was performed with the help of mouth mirror and explorer in dental chair. The perception of dental students about condition of their gums and teeth was obtained through questionnaire. Results: The results revealed that 25 % of students in present study had dental decay. The mean DMFT score was 0.625. Moreover, the mean DMFT score for male and female students was 0.658 and 0.576 respectively. The results about distribution of DMFT components indicated that the decayed (D) teeth were in greatest number followed by filled (F) and missed (M) teeth. Conclusion: There was statistically no significant association between dental caries and gender. Moreover, prevalence of dental caries was significantly different between those who perceived their gums and teeth condition excellent and good compared to the students who perceived their gums and teeth condition as poor. Key words:Caries, DMFT, dental students, Prevalence, Perception, teeth and gums. Article Citation: Mirani SA, Shah SYA, Sahito MA. Oral health; Perception of oral health and prevalence of dental caries among the students' of liaquat medical university jamshoro.