Oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviour among Saudi school students in Jeddah city

Objectives. To assess the knowledge, attitude and behaviour in relation to periodontal. health status among Saudi intermediate and high school students living in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods. A dental health questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of a total of 2586 Saudi students from intermediate and high school, aged 12-18 years residing in Jeddah. Results. While about 87.1% knew that tooth brush helps prevent periodontal. disease, only 33.1% knew that using dental floss helps in preventing periodontal disease. Females used brushing and flossing more than mates, while mates used miswak more than females. Tooth brushing (P < 0.001) and dental floss (P < 0.015) were used more frequently among private subjects, while miswak was utilized more frequently among governmental school students (P < 0.005). Dental pain was found to be the main reason for visiting the dentist among the target group. Conclusions. It appears that knowledge, attitude, and behaviour concerning periodontal health among young Saudi school students living in Jeddah city are in need of improvement. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.