Oral hygiene practice and awareness among Pakistanis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess the oral hygiene practices and evaluate oral health related knowledge of Pakistani community residing in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. It was a descriptive cross sectional study carried out in Pakistani community. A total number of 125 male individuals were approached. A questionnaire was designed and data were collected through interviewing the Pakistani community. This study was conducted from May 2010 to July 2010. Response rate was 100%. The data were analysed using SPSS. It was found that out of sample of 125 subjects 118 [94.4%] used different methods for cleaning their teeth, while 7% [5.6%] did not clean their teeth at all. The methods used for cleaning included tooth brush by 30.5% of people, miswak [wooden stick] was used by 38.1% while 44.1% of study group used a combination of tooth brush and miswak [wooden stick]. Alternative methods of cleaning such as using fingers and dandasa [bark of walnut tree] were recorded in 1.7% people. The study revealed that oral hygiene practices of the study group were not satisfactory as majority of the subjects were not observing recommended oral hygiene practices. It was concluded that optimum dental hygiene practices should be encouraged in people by community dental education