Oral health behaviour and dental caries in the Jordanian Joint Special Operations personnel

ABSTRACT

The Objective was to assess the dental caries experience and oral health related behaviour among Joint Special Operations personnel in Amman- Jordan. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted to collect sociodemographic data, oral hygiene habits, related behaviour and their past utilization of dental services among Joint Special Operations personnel in Amman- Jordan. A total of 349 subjects aged between 18- 50 years [mean=30.4] were examined in this study. All subjects who participated in this study were military men. The prevalence of dental caries was high [83.1%] while the DMFT ranged from 0 to 32 [mean 8.69; SD +/- 5.49]. 65.5% of the participants claimed that they brushed their teeth once a day and 60% twice daily. Only 22. 9% [n= 80] of the participants were regular attendees, 59.3% of the participants were smokers. 71.4% of participants had calculus at age of 35-39 years, while 52.3% calculus was seen in 25-29 years old. Bleeding on probing was observed in 21-24 years old [51.1%] as well as among 18-20 years old [44.2%]. However, there was statistically a significant difference between dental caries and periodontal indexes as 49% had dental caries and. score 2 periodontal indexes, while 25.4% were caries free and showed normal periodontal condition, however, participant who had score 3 periodontal index's 10.3% got caries. The present study found that military personnel had a relatively high rate of dental caries are oral hygiene and oral health was poor. Proper diagnosis and treatment should be done before deployment as well as through preventive care measures: