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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2018; 12(01): 043-048
DOI: 10.4103/ejd.ejd_93_17
Original Article
Dental Investigation Society

Conceptual knowledge of oral health among school teachers in South India, India

P. Jagan
1   1Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sri Ramakrishna Dental College and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
,
Nusrath Fareed
2   Department of Public Health Dentistry, KVG Dental College and Hospital, Sullia (D.K.), Karnataka, India
,
Hemanth Battur
2   Department of Public Health Dentistry, KVG Dental College and Hospital, Sullia (D.K.), Karnataka, India
,
Sanjeev Khanagar
2   Department of Public Health Dentistry, KVG Dental College and Hospital, Sullia (D.K.), Karnataka, India
,
Bhat Manohar
3   Department of Dentistry, Mysore Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka, India
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

Publication Date:
13 September 2019 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Objective: To measure conceptual oral health knowledge among school teachers using comprehensive measure of oral health knowledge (CMOHK) instrument. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 school teachers drawn through cluster random sampling from across Sullia taluk. Conceptual knowledge was assessed using Comprehensive measure of oral health knowledge questionnaire. Oral health status was recorded on a World Health Organization oral health assessment Proforma. Results: Overall distribution of CMOHK scores revealed that 106(44%) subjects had good conceptual oral health knowledge, 81(33.7%) subjects had fair and 53(22%) subjects were categorized under poor conceptual knowledge respectively. Statistically significant difference was observed for mean scores for conceptual knowledge in relation to gender (12.8v/s 15.3), in terms of type of school teachers (14.4 v/s 11.2) and in relation to age of the subjects. Primary school teachers exhibited a consistently better CMOHK scores 0.003(0.001-0.011) compared to their high school counterparts 0.003(0.001-0.012). Conclusion: The mean CMOHK score of this group was 12.5±1.3 and is considered to be fair. There is an inverse association between age, educational levels and income in relation to CMOHK scores.

Key words:

Oral health knowledge - oral health literacy - oral health status - school teachers
 

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