ABSTRACT
Introduction: The internet, one of the important scientific developments in this field, provides a wealth of information in relation to diseases, therapeutic procedures and pharmaceutical products. It has a lower cost as compared to paper based dissemination of information and also has an added advantage of being available worldwide instantly on demand. Therefore, there is a need not only to equip Dental fraternity with adequate skills for use of internet but also to make internet facility available in institutions providing Dental education and healthcare. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the use of computers and internet and the purpose of using the internet among undergraduate and postgraduate dental students and faculty members compare male to female ratio of using internet. Materials and Methods: Internet addiction questionnaire consisting of 20 questions were distributed among the Dental Undergraduate and postgraduate students and faculty members. No specific sampling technique was employed for selecting the study subjects. Data was analyzed using EpiInfo. Chi-square test was used to find out statistical significance of differences in proportions. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: As per the results the male dental students uses internet more than female dental students doing extracurricular activities besides educational work. The productivity and work performance of male dental students suffer more than female students due to prolonged internet use. Male dental students also hide their online time and become more defensive and secretive when someone bothers them online. So almost 50 % are at the verge of internet addiction and they have to be monitored properly.
ABSTRACT
Aims and objectives: The aim and objectives of the study was to assess awareness of effects of tobacco on oral health, general health and oral cancer in routine dental practice and to assess awareness of effects of tobacco among smokers and smokeless tobacco users. Materials and methods:-A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 200 outpatients attending the department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Peoples Dental Academy and Hospital, Bhopal, India with present or past history of smokeless or smoking form of tobacco. The questionnaire was divided into four parts demographic data, habits, awareness and practice of mouth self-examination. Data was analyzed using Chi-squared (χ2) test. Results: In our study majority of the patients were male 131(65.5%%), 35-60 years old (60%) with higher education level (38%). This implies that adult males were more common users of tobacco though being well educated. Smoking and smokeless form usage was found to be 66% & 34% with 89% as current users and more than 5 intakes /day (61%) as the most common frequency of usage. Only 11% of patients were past users and aware about ill-effects of tobacco. Television and radio followed by the news paper are the most effective means of approaching people for creating awareness on tobacco health effects among large mass population. The association between the response given for ‘smoking form can cause mouth cancer’, ‘can smoking cause heart, lung disease’ and the use of different forms of tobacco was found to be statistically significant in the study sample (P<0.05). In our study, out of 200 subjects, 84% patients never practiced mouth self-examination and remaining 16 % had noticed only stains or debris on their teeth.