Dental Health Education and Oral Health of  Secondary School Pupils

Objective: To assess the oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice of secondary school pupils in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Method: A four part self administered questionnaire was used for the post intervention assessment of the pupils' oral health knowlegde, attitude and practice. This was administered after a short talk on the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene which was given in the two commonly spoken languages in Ile-Ife, namely English and Yoruba. Possible association between oral health knowledge, attitude and practice, with sex and school attended was analysed. The school type was used as proxy for socioeconomic status. Results: 250 pupils participated in the study. This consisted of 125 males (50%) and 125 females (50%). The study population had good oral hygiene knowledge, fair attitude towards oral hygiene and poor oral hygiene practices. This finding was independent of school type. There was however a gender difference observed with females having better hygiene when compared to males. There was no gender difference in attitude to oral hygiene and oral health practices. Conclusion: Oral health knowledge amongst secondary school pupils in Ile-Ife was high. However, their attitude was fair and practice was poor. Knowledge did not necessarily translate to attitude and practice in this school population.