Oral health knowledge of patients attending to a dental faculty

Objective: Since oral health knowledge is crucial to improve community’s oral health status, the aim of the present study was to evaluate oral health knowledge of attendants of a dental faculty in Turkey. Methods: Randomly-selected 250 patients attendanting to Dental Faculty of Hacettepe University, Ankara,Turkey, were provided with a questionarrie including 30 questions in 5 categories: perceived importance of oral health, toothbrushing, periodontal status, tooth loss/dentures and the relationship between oral and general health. Responses were statistically analyzed based on gender, age and educational status. Results: Recognition of the importance of oral health was 100% and nearly all aggreed to the benefit of regular oral check-ups. However, 58.8% visited dentists after pain. More than half considered dental care expensive, claimed to receive dental information from media, while the majority wished to receive more information from their dentists. Majority knew that poor oral health caused tooth loss and toothbrushing was effective for the prevention of decay and “gum” diseases. For 7% gum problems was not a “disease” and 14.4% believed that toothbrushing should be stopped when gums bleed. For 39.2% tooth loss was a natural consequence of ageing and for half wearing dentures normal. Nearly all wished to keep their teeth for a life-time, 14.8% believed that this was not possible. Over 90% aggreed that oral health could affect their general health, while over 50% believed that dentists could diagnose medical diseases. Conclusion: It seemed that the level of oral health knowledge of the participants was not sufficient in all aspects. Despite the clear demand, it was evident that dentists were not the primary source of oral health information for their patients. As some myths regarding oral health care are likely to persist and the great need for prevention is clear, a broader role for the dentists seem to be required.