Oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice among nursing students in the North-Eastern part of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Background: Professional and paramedical students have a key role in oral health promotion. The aim of this study was to assess oral health–related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) among the nursing students in Rajasthan. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was carried out among 409 nursing students from five different institutes who were selected by simple random sampling. A 27-item questionnaire was used to assess KAP. The resulting data were analyzed using frequency distribution. Results: Over 50% of the students used toothbrush and toothpaste twice a day to maintain their oral hygiene. Besides, 41% recognized the importance of dental visit in case of gingival bleeding and knew that poor oral hygiene is responsible for bad breath. Conclusions: Oral health–related behavior among the nursing students needs improvement. More educational and preventive programs should be organized to achieve better results.

Keywords

• Behavior
• knowledge
• nursing students
• oral health