Oral health knowledge among middle and late adolescents group in South Chennai: A questionnaire study
Author(s): Dr. Vishnu Rekha Chamarthi, Dr. Swetha U, Dr. Maureen RH, Dr. Amutha MV Soorya, Dr. Rakshana S, Dr. Dhanraj Kalaivanan and Dr. Santham Krishnamoorthy
Abstract: Background:For overall health and wellbeing, oral health is essential. Developing hygiene and self-care habits is mostly dependent on the adolescent age group. Adolescents must analyse their knowledge about oral health since it allows them to make improvements to their oral hygiene routines. This study aims to evaluate middle and late teenage group's oral health knowledge.
Methods: A group of 400 adolescent group children are taken in this study. One half will be the middle adolescent group of age 16and 17. The other half will be the late adolescent group of age 18 and 19. The middle adolescent children data will be collected from the higher secondary schools of South Chennai. The late adolescent children data will be collected from the first and second year college students from South Chennai. Data on oral hygiene knowledge was collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire by personal interview method. The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using open Epi Software SPSS version 25.
Results: A total of 400 adolescents participated in this questionnaire study, among which 200 participants were middle adolescents and 200 were late adolescent groups. Considering middle adolescents, about 64.5% brush once a day, 67% use only brush and tooth paste for cleaning teeth, 68% brush only in the morning, about 41% brush for about 2 min daily and about 34.5% never visited a dentist at all. Considering later adolescent group, about 67% brushed only once a day, 73% preferred tooth brush and paste only, and a similar proportion of participants brushed only in the morning. Majority of them brushed for a duration of 2 minutes and visited a dentist only when they experienced pain. Oral health related knowledge was similar among both the groups.
Conclusions: The sources of oral health knowledge included family, friends and social media which implies that these could be used as important tools in educating children on oral health. The study thus understands that oral health education must be included as part of the school curriculum. Parents should be incorporated as partners in oral health promotion among adolescents.
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How to cite this article:
Dr. Vishnu Rekha Chamarthi, Dr. Swetha U, Dr. Maureen RH, Dr. Amutha MV Soorya, Dr. Rakshana S, Dr. Dhanraj Kalaivanan, Dr. Santham Krishnamoorthy. Oral health knowledge among middle and late adolescents group in South Chennai: A questionnaire study. Int J Multidiscip Trends 2024;6(9):28-33.