A nutritional approach towards periodontal health

Background Periodontitis is defined as an inflammatory disease of the supportive tissues of the teeth caused by microorganisms . periodontal health is influenced by factors such as oral hygiene , nutrition etc. Nutrients have a major impact on periodontal health. A study was done to assess the awareness about the role of nutrients in periodontal diseases among dental students in Chennai. Materials and methods: A survey was conducted among dental students on awareness about the role of nutrition in periodontal disease. Questionnaire was prepared and distributed through google form through which the survey was done. 100 dental students participated. Data was tabulated in the excel sheet and statistically analysed through spss software. Descriptive statistics and Chi Square test was used in data analysis. Results: There were 100 responses collected from dental undergraduate students for this survey. From the responses collected, it is shown that females(69%) are more aware of the role of nutrition in periodontal health than males(31%), this is not statistically significant. (p value -0.760). It also shows that 5th year students (48%) were more aware about the periodontal diseases and role of nutrition in periodontal diseases than first(9%), second(14%), third(14%) and fourth years(15%), suggesting interns were more aware than other dental undergraduate students but the difference was not statistically significant. (p value -0.226) Conclusion: From this study it is concluded that females were more aware than males about the awareness of the role of nutrition in periodontal disease and interns were more aware than other dental undergraduate students.