Oral health is the most important but often neglected entity of
life. Studies have revealed that
literacy skills and
knowledge are strong predictors of individual’s
health status than age,
income,
employment status,
education level, racial group or
ethnic group. The objective of this study was to investigate how
oral health literacy relates to
oral health knowledge,
attitude and practices among the street hawkers and
fruit vendors.METHODSA
cross-sectional study was conducted using a Marathi pretested, close ended, structured and validated
questionnaire to assess
oral health knowledge,
attitude, practices and
literacy among the street hawkers and
fruit vendors. The data was collected, entered and analysed using SPSS Version 21.RESULTSThe study shows that only 24.4% of the participants knew that
teeth were important for
chewing, talking and appearance, 86.7% of the participants knew that
consumption of sweets causes
tooth decay, 80.4% knew that brushing
teeth prevents
dental caries and 91.6% knew that visiting a
dentist prevents dental problems. Regarding
oral hygiene practices, 16.4% used
tooth paste with toothbrush, 44.4% brushed twice daily, 47.6% used tobacco more than once daily and 34.7% visited
dentist when they experienced
tooth ache. In case of
oral health literacy, 35.6% answered correctly that
bleeding gum is an inflamed
gum, 32% knew that plaque is soft debris on
teeth, 21.3% participants knew that
fluoride strengthens the
teeth and 95.1% were aware that
eating/
smoking tobacco causes
oral cancer.CONCLUSIONSOur study shows that
oral health literacy was limited. The
awareness on
oral health knowledge was good with
positive attitude but practices were fair among the street hawkers and
fruit vendors. Therefore,
measures should be taken to improve OHL level and develop skills of
self-management about
oral hygiene behaviour which
will promote the
oral health practices.