Dental caries, hygiene, fluorosis and oral health knowledge of primary school teachers of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to determine the status of caries, oral hygiene condition and fluorosis of primary school teachers of Riyadh urban area and to assess some basic knowledge about oral diseases and habits of these subjects. Two hundred ninety seven male school teachers were selected randomly from 16 public schools, using stratified cluster random sampling. High caries experience and fluorosis level were observed when compared with the general normal population of Riyadh region. Five% of the teachers did not clean their teeth. One-third of the teachers showed poor knowledge about caries and gum diseases. Even though very few teachers were involved in giving lectures about preventive measures and oral diseases, nevertheless more than ninety% of them agreed that these types of lectures were beneficial to the students