Knowledge and awareness of periodontal diseases among Jordanian University students: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Oral health plays an important role to maintain the general health. Therefore, controlling periodontal diseases may have a profound health effect. The importance of oral health is still a neglected and ignored social issue because most of the people are unaware of the relationship between oral health and systemic diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of periodontal diseases among Jordan University of science and technology students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing self-administered structured questionnaires to 906 university students between the ages of 18–30 years after obtaining their verbal consents. RESULTS: A total of 906 students completed the questionnaire. Majority of students reported that they brush their teeth regularly while only 5.1% of students admitted that they never clean their teeth. Roughly one-quarter of students could define dental plaque correctly. A high “percentage” of females and medical students were more aware concerning gum inflammation signs and symptoms than males and students from faculties of engineering and science. Students of medical specialties and females were more aware of the relationship between smoking, diabetes mellitus, and heart diseases on the one hand and periodontal diseases on the other hand compared to opposite comparative groups. A low proportion of students were aware that proper scaling was not harmful to the teeth. CONCLUSIONS: In general, our study demonstrated that university students had poor knowledge regarding the etiology of periodontal diseases as well as the role of conventional treatment in maintaining good oral health by preventing the inflammatory process.