Students' Behavior Related to Oral Health

Abstract

Introduction: Oral health significantly affects the quality of life. Behavior is a very important determinant of oral health, which is related to oral hygiene, diet, regular visits to the dentist and smoking. Students are interesting research group to study an oral-helath behavior, particularly dental students, because of their knowledge and attitudes about oral health greatly affect the proceedings in their further work which is important for the health of the population. Objective: The objective was to evaluate the oral health behavior of dental students of the Medical Faculty in Podgorica and the Faculty of Political Science in Podgorica. Materials and Methods: The study included 125 students. The survey instrument was a questionnaire of closed type, containing questions about oral hygiene, visits to the dentist, as well as questions about nutrition and consumption of tobacco.Results: The study showed that students take care of their oral health; 75.2% brush their teeth 2 to 3 times a day, and 54.4% goes to examinations every 3 -6 months. Results also indicated that there are certain problems that require health-educational measures, such as a lack of knowledge about fluoride as an element of dental caries prevention, as well as the insufficient use of additional funds for oral hygiene, such as dental floss and interdental brushes. Conclusion: The study showed that students take care of their oral health, but there is a need for continuous education programs on the importance and protection of oral health. Dental students have shown a bit better results.

Oral health behavior and attitudes among students of health and non-health oriented studies

“…11.5% (26) of the respondents reported that sometimes they feel ashamed because of the teeth problems and 0.9% (2) of participants reported periodically problems of the shame caused by teeth. At the same time, 88.5% (201) participants never avoid encounters due to problems with their teeth, mouth, or dentures, 3.5% (8) respondents sometimes avoid encounters because of the problems with their teeth, mouth, or dentures, while 6.2% (14) rarely have the same problem. Table 8 summarizes results of the importance of oral health.…”

“…Similar research was carried out in Turkey and Montenegro. In Turkey, only 12% of respondents attend their dentists regularly (13), while in Montenegro 54.4% of respondents visit the dentist every 3-6 months (14). A result from our study is in consonance with the results of the study conducted in Foča where 51% of school children visit a dentist only when they have a problem (15), and with the results found in Greece, where 51.25% of the respondents visit a dentist when they start feeling dental pain (16).…”

“…Few studies also reported similar observation to ours. In a survey conducted in Montenegro, 71.2% of students of the Faculty of Political Science does not know that their toothpaste contains fluoride, while 87.7% of the respondents of the Faculty of Dentistry use fluoridated toothpaste (14).…”