Assessment of Oral Hygiene Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Engineering Students in North Bangalore: A Cross-sectional Survey

Introduction: Oral health is a vital component of the general health of an individual that influence on one's general quality of life and well-being. Enhanced oral health can be achieved with increased awareness and better practices. Young adults encounter a number of issues of late teenage that affects oral health. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of oral hygiene among 17-20 year old engineering students of North Bangalore, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 500 engineering students of North Bangalore. Pre-tested structured closed-ended questionnaire, comprising of 21 multiple choice questions, was self-administered to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practices toward oral hygiene. On the basis of the responses received through questionnaires, the data obtained were analyzed by using statistical software package SPSS version 17.0 and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among the 500 participants, according to 93% of them, oral health is important for overall health. 67% brush their teeth twice daily and 30.8% brush only once in a day. The difference between males and females for brushing their teeth was statistically significant (P = 0.0224). 64.6% used tongue cleaner and only 6% used dental floss. 65.2% students recognize tooth decay as a black spot and a hole in the tooth and 21.4% identifies it by pain. According to 43.8% participants, dental visits are needed only when there is a problem and 33.0% were aware about the significance of dental visits at least once in 6 months. Conclusions: Awareness of studied subjects about oral hygiene stands satisfactory. Knowledge about dental floss and identification of tooth decay was inadequate. Oral health promotion programs are needed to improve oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices of the students.