A Study on Dental Health Behavior of Nursing Students in Western University

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of oral health among undergraduate Thai nursing students in Western University in Faculty of Nursing at Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

Study Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Faculty of Nursing at Kanchanaburi, Western University, Thailand, between August 2014 and June 2015.

Methodology: Sample: A pilot study was conducted among 20 students, and the sample size was calculated as 135 participants. Total samples were taken from the year I to IV (7 men, 128 women; age range 18-23 years). The participants were asked different questionnaire on dental health knowledge, attitude and practice. Descriptive statistics were calculated for mean, standard deviation (SD), percentage (%). The data were analyzed using SPSS 18.

Results: The results show that 94.8 percent were female and only 5.2 were male. The dental problems were found in 94.07% of the participants, which includes dental plaque in 35.43%, followed by food impaction in 21.26%. The results of knowledge of oral health of the participants were, good knowledge in 51.11%. The results of the attitude on the oral health show more than 60% had good attitude, but only 40% had low attitude and did not agree on the attitude questions that were asked. Regarding on the practice of oral health of the participants, over 80.74% of the participants had good practice such as brush their teeth twice daily by modified bass technique for 2-3 minutes and they use cream mixed fluoride toothpaste. About 37% of the participants visit the dentist twice per year for an oral health checkup and about 82.96% of the participants like fruits which is good for the oral health. But 62.22% of the participants visit to the dentist when they have only oral health problems. About 17.03% use horizontal brush technique and 4.44% brush their teeth with cream not mixed fluoride.

Conclusion: The nursing undergraduate students have moderate oral health knowledge, attitude and practice. Thus, introducing the teaching and training of the essential components of oral health care in a nursing school is a prerequisite for good practice. This will empower nursing professional with basic oral health knowledge and promote oral health behaviors and hence to disseminate to the patients