ABSTRACT
Aims: The object of this study was to assess the levels of oral hygiene awareness, knowledge, and practice of the children of a Govt. school belonging to low socioeconomic class in Karachi, and to attract more of the health promotion programs and campaigns towards these less privileged areas so that awareness regarding oral hygiene and health may be emphasized upon them and encourage them about the benefits of a healthy oral cavity. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Railway’s Secondary School. Railway colony, near Kalapul, Karachi in February 2015 . Methodology: This study was conducted to assess the oral health knowledge, attitude and practice amongst the students of a government school in Karachi. Sample: A total of 461 students (251 Males + 210 Females) participated in the study through a questionnaire that consisted of 24 closed-ended questions. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 15 and results were accumulated by frequency distribution. Results: It was observed that 97% of children (n= 446) demonstrated regular oral hygiene practice, results regarding knowledge were also good but bad eating habits were also found prevailing amongst them that need to be addressed. Conclusion: Overall it can be said that the results relating to oral hygiene practice and knowledge were good but only 31% of the students visited the dentist and the concept of regular dental checkup was almost nil. Hence the need for continuing dental education through promotion programs is emphasized with justification.
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aims to determine the relationship of parental knowledge and attitude towards their child’s oral habits and health status, and evaluate whether educational status of parents plays a significant role and the level of motivation of parents for child’s regular dental checkup. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Dental OPD of Dow International Dental College and Fazaia Degree College, April 2014, Karachi East, Pakistan. Methodology: Parents of preschool and primary school going children. A self-designed closed ended type questionnaire was provided in both English and Urdu language. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 16. The relationship between variables was done by frequency distribution and Chi-square test. Results: A total of 200 completed questionnaires were considered for final analysis. 61% of the parents had children of preschool age and 38.5% were primary school going. 56.5% of the subjects had education up to Graduation or higher level. Majority of the parents belonged to Middle class 63%. 82-96% of parents were aware of preventive role of tooth brushing and fluoride. 95.5% considered regular dental checkup important.74-95% of parents showed positive attitude towards factors important for maintenance of oral health. But 64.5% of parents still did not take their child for regular visit to dentist. Conclusions: The study shows that parents have relatively higher knowledge and positive attitude regardless of educational and socioeconomic status, however children still seemed to practice habits which affected their oral health therefore preventive dental programmes should not only focus on educating but developing personal skills in both the parents and young children and improve parents’ attitude on importance of early preventive dental visit.