Methods: A self designed questionnaire comprising of 12 close-ended questions was distributed amongst a sample of 200 students. Students were randomly selected from 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of MBBS and BDS (100 students each).A comparison of the response frequencies was done.
Results: The study revealed that 48% dental and 48% medical students brushed their teeth twice daily and44% dental whereas 30% medical students use soft tooth brush.73% dental where as 57% medical students changed their tooth brush every 3 months and 95% dental and 83% medical students use fluoridated toothpaste. 18% dental where as 13% medical students had 2 dental visits in the last year and 58% dental students had scaling within the last year as compared to 37% of the medical students. The major source of motivation for oral hygiene practices of dental students is their education (59%) where as family/peers are the major source of motivation for the medical students (35%).
Conclusion: Oral health is an integral part of the general body health. Revising the curricula and putting more emphasis on dental education at the medical undergraduate level can lead to significant improvement in oral hygiene practices and the general body health on the whole.