An investigation was conducted at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to assess the dental students' oral hygiene measures, their oral health status, and the effect of knowledge gained in preventive aspects on their personal health attitudes (Yildiz and Dogan 259). A sample of ninety-three students was taken, after their voluntary response, for study under the approval of the University’s Research Ethics Board. The students were provided with questionnaires consisting of twenty polar responses (agree/disagree) and additional two questions on brushing and flossing the frequency (Cortes et al. 1208).
The result of the study indicated that twenty-nine percent of the participants had bleeding gums. About eighty-three percent confirmed that they were worried about their gums color while sixty-three percent of them reported that it was difficult to prevent gum illness with just brushing alone. Ten percent of the participants showed that they had discovered some deposits of sticky white substances on their teeth (Ainamo and Bay 233). About ninety-two percent of the participants did not agree that they would develop false teeth in their old age. Concerning dental health conduct, approximately sixty-nine percent of the participants confirmed that they usually check their teeth in the mirror after brushing. Fifty-six percent indicated that they have had regular dental floss while eighty-six percent reported that they brushed at least twice daily (El-Mostehy and Zaki 105).
Dentists play a key role in the development of better civic oral health tutoring and, therefore, acquiring essential information and attitudes associated with dental hygiene and prevention of oral illness is vital for aspiring dentists (Cavaillon et al. 137). Dental education is geared towards capacitating the students with the ability to motivate patients to embrace better oral hygiene and the task can only be achieved if the students themselves are motivated and are able to put into practice the knowledge and attitude acquired in their individual dental care. However, various researchers’ reports indicate controversies concerning the effect of education on the behavior, oral hygiene, and attitude among the dental students (Bakdash and Proshek 440). Lang, Cumming and Loe in their research discovered “dental students were greatly motivated about keeping their dental health and the knowledge they acquired during dental education seemed to have had a big influence on their behavior” (237). Likewise, the studies of both Cortes et al. “indicated a clear adjustment in the overall students’ oral hygiene practices” (1203). On the contrary, Egyptian students were realized to have minimal improvement in the oral hygiene practices regardless having gained enough education (Al Kawas, Fakhruddin and Rehman 8).
A good number of students who obtained a high score in the questionnaires, that is, those with better dental hygiene conduct and awareness showed gingival bleeding and plaque scores ranging from moderate to high (Yildiz and Dogan 253). It indicated that students are joining the dental school had poor dental health practices and attitudes. However, several studies have shown that attitudes of students towards their dental health have constantly improved with the rise in their level of education (Kawamura et al. 160). The study further indicated that the change would be gradual as was noted among the majority of second year students; who did not show responsive change in oral hygiene behavior in spite of having been taken through an educational training in dentistry preventive measures during their first year (Cavaillon et al. 143).
A lot of changes were reported to have had occurred on the students oral health habits regarding brushing their teeth at least twice a day, brushing every tooth a bit more carefully and regularly flossing their teeth (Lang, Cumming and Loe 242). The students demonstrated a total change of behavior relating to smoking habits with majority of those who were smoking before dropping their smoking habits. They students became more conscious about their sugar consumption level having been enlightened on the effect of sugar on teeth. Most students, especially the female ones, took more self-initiative in visiting dentist to get informed about their oral health conditions (Neeraja, Kayalvizhi and Sangeeta 166).
Works Cited
Cortes, Nevot, Ramon and Cuenca. “The Evolution of Dental Health in Dental Students at the University of Barcelona.” J Dent Educ. 66. 1 (2002):1203–1208. Print.
Lang, Cumming and Loe. “Oral hygiene and gingival health of Danish dental students and faculty.” Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 5. 2 (2009): 237–242. Print.
Cavaillon, Conge, Mirisch, Nemeth and Sitbon. “Longitudinal study on oral health of dental students at Paris VII University.” Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 10. 3 (2010): 137-143. Print.
Yildiz and Dogan. “Self reported dental health attitudes and behavior of dental students in Turkey." Eur J Dent. 5. 1 (2011): 253–259. Print.
El-Mostehy and Zaki. “The dental student’s attitude towards the profession as reflected in his oral cavity.” Egypt Dent J. 15. 4 (2009): 104-109. Print.
Al Kawas, Fakhruddin and Rehman. “A comparative study of oral health attitudes and behaviour between dental and medical students; the impact of dental education in United Arab Emirates.” J Int Dent Med Res. 10. 3 (2010): 6–10.
Kawamura, Yip, Hu and Komabayashi. “A cross-cultural comparison of dental health attitudes and behavior among freshman dental students in Japan, Hong-Kong and West China.” Int Dent J. 51. 2 (2011): 159-163. Print.
Ainamo and Bay. “Problems and proposals for recording gingivitis and plaque.” Int Dent J. 25. 2 (2009): 229-235. Print.
Neeraja, Kayalvizhi and Sangeeta. “Oral health attitudes and behaviour among a group of dental students in Bangalore, India.” Eur J Dent. 5. 2 (2011): 163-167. Print.
Bakdash and Proshek. “Oral hygiene status of dental students as related to their personal and academic profiles.” J Periodontal Res. 14.4 (2009): 438-443.
