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| Year : 2008 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 12 | Page : 20-26 |
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Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of School Teachers in Chennai
Benley George, Joseph John, S Saravanan, I Meignana Arumugham
Department of Public Health Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, Saveetha University, 162, Poonamallee high road, Velappanchavadi, Chennai 600 077, India
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
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Aim: To assess the oral health Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of school teachers in Chennai. Materials and Methods: A structured questionnaire was used for the study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in which 45 schools were conveniently selected from 5 zones in Chennai. A total of 971 school teachers had participated in the survey. Statistical analysis was done using chi-square test and p<0.05 was selected in describing the levels of significance.
Results: This study shows statistically significant relationship between oral health knowledge and attitude with regard to age and gender (p<0.05).Among the school teachers in the age group of 50 +, ninety-six percent of them knew that dental decay was the most common oral disease. This study showed that 6.3 %, 30.6%, 40.1% and 20.8% of the school teachers consumed soda, juice or tinned fruits, sweets or chocolate and cakes atleast once a day respectively. Among the male teachers, 97.9% had agreed that dental visit is important to them. No statistical significance was observed between oral health knowledge and attitude with regard to educational status.
Condusion: The school teachers were well informed pertaining to oral health. However, a few deficiencies were noticed in this regard and recommendations have been presented. There is a need for the inclusion of oral health promotion in the curriculum of the school teachers which will thereby benefit the school children in the future. The dental professionals as a part of their task should update the knowledge of the schoolteachers by conducting dental health workshops and other oral health promotional programmes. |
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