Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Among Dental and Medical Students in Eastern India – A Comparative Study

OBJECTIVES: To compare oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices among dental and medical students in a Health care centre at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and fifty BDS and MBBS students each from Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences and Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences of KIIT University, Bhubaneswar respectively, were invited to participate in this survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire in English comprising 27 questions, which was designed to evaluate the oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices. The obtained data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 software. RESULTS: On comparison of the scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice, the mean knowledge score was significantly higher among dental students than medical students. The study also showed that female students (both dental and medical) had better oral health knowledge and showed better oral health practices than male students. Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient test showed that, although dental students had better knowledge and attitude towards oral health, there was a lack of adequate practice among them. CONCLUSION: Further emphasis on oral health is necessary in undergraduate training to improve oral health knowledge, attitude, and practice among dental and medical students as they will act as role models for oral health education among individuals and community at large.