engleski

Comparision of periodontal status and oral hygiene habits between students of dental medicine and pharmacy and biochemistry students

Introduction: Dentists play an important role in the improvement of the publics oral health education. Dental students in general have been found to have a positive attitude toward oral health. The impact of education on the attitude, behavior and oral hygiene of dental students have an influence on their behavior towards maintaining their dental health. In our study we tried to investigate it and compare oral haygiene habits and oral health of dental students with biomedical sciences students. Materials and methods: There were in total 228 students, 111 farmaceutical and 117 dental medicine students that volunteerily encompassed study. They filled a structured questionnaire with general information about oral hygiene habits including questions of brushing frequency, dental office visits, usage of toothpaste with fluorides, flossing frequency and mouthwash rinses usage. Clinical examination included the assessment of periodontal health and was recorded as Community periodontal index (CPI). Results: Students of dental medicine had better oral hygiene habits then student of pharmacy and biochemistry. There were no differences between the groups in frequency of teeth brushing. All other variables of oral hygiene habits ( dental office visits frequency, usage of fluoridated tooth paste, mouth rinses and dental floss) were statistically different (p˂0, 001). Nevertheless, there were no statistically significant differences in CPI index between the two groups of students. Conclusion: Our study showed that students of School of dental medicine University in Zagreb are better in oral hygiene habits than students of Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. Periodontal health was same in both groups, regardless differences in oral hygiene habits, probably due to young age of students.

periodontal health; oral hygiene; dental students

nije evidentirano