Introduction

Oral health is an essential requisite for general health and well-being of an individual throughout the life. Poor oral health and dental problems like caries and periodontal disease can have a significant effect on quality of life as they might affect the patient’s eating, drinking, swallowing, smiling and communication.1 Though oral health has always been neglected in the developing or underdeveloped countries,2 in order to maintain a good oral health, proper and effective preventive measures must be practiced. Medical and paramedical students act as a guide for oral health awareness program as they are in frequent contact with the general population.

Malocclusion is a commonly seen dental anomaly among large number of populations. It is considered third most frequently occurring oral pathology next to dental caries and periodontal diseases. One will undergo orthodontic treatment if he/she has knowledge and awareness regarding orthodontics and that orthodontic treatment will improve functioning and aesthetics and functioning in the perioral region. This becomes even more important for the medical and paramedical students as they have to recognise the orthodontic problems early and should be able to refer to an orthodontic specialist at the correct time for either initiating interceptive procedures or for correction.3

The Medical, Paramedical students after their graduation become the point of contact with the community at large through camps and in college. Their awareness regarding oral health practices in general and orthodontics in particular can influence the oral health practices of the community

It is stated that the main reasons for the malocclusion being left untreated are the lack of information about the malocclusion, lack of resources, literacy rate, and socioeconomic status. Awaisi et al4 evaluated the social barriers affecting demand for orthodontic treatment, concluded that the majority of individuals who chose treatment had high socioeconomic status and the majority of those who had low socioeconomic status did not prefer treatment.

Although there are studies in the literature that evaluate orthodontic knowledge and awareness among school children in different societies, not many studies are available comparing the awareness regarding oral and orthodontics among the medical, dental and paramedical courses such as nursing, physiotherapy etc., Hence this study was carried out to assess the awareness regarding relationship of orthodontic knowledge and awareness among different dental, medical and paramedical fraternity. Our null hypothesis is that there is difference regarding awareness and knowledge regarding oral health and orthodontics among the students of medical, dental and paramedical branches.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare the knowledge and awareness regarding Orthodontic treatment among dental and medical and paramedical undergraduate students of the campus.

Material and Methods

Results

Majority of the study subjects were medical students (39%), females (75.6%), belonged to the 20-25 years age group (53.8%) and upper middle socioeconomic status (63%). Nearly 95% of the study subjects opined that oral health is an integral part of general health. 96.3% preferred normal tooth brush. 43% of the study participants reported using such amounts of tooth paste which covers the full length of the brush. 3 months is the most frequent response (52.6%) from the participants for the question on frequency of changing tooth brush. 78.7% had the habit of rinsing their oral cavity every time they eat. 73% reported that they did not know oil pulling as an alternative for commercial mouth wash. Listerine and Colgate were the frequently used mouth washes reported by the participants. 88.1% reported tongue cleaning habit and only slightly more than 50% of the study sample knew what flossing is. Regarding orthodontic questions, nearly 91% responded that smile is very important for facial beauty. 40.2% of the study subjects reported never observing in the mirror for irregular teeth. 56.1% were aware that orthodontic treatment can resolve certain breathing issues. 46.6% felt that braces are better used during 15-30 years of age. Nearly 70% knew that it might be necessary for some teeth to be extracted as part of orthodontic care. Only 65.2% of the study sample visited dentist at some point in time. 73.5% were aware that adults can wear braces. 71.2% had demonstrated knowledge of different types of braces and 54.9% knew that there are invisible braces available in orthodontic care. No significant differences were noted between males and females in their oral hygiene habits. Students from paramedical courses had significantly lesser knowledge on the nature of oral health as an integral part of general health. Significantly higher percentage of paramedical students (46.6%) reported brushing twice a day compared to medical and dental students. Paramedical students were significantly more aware of the benefits of oil pulling in reducing oral bacteria and promoting oral hygiene. Significantly higher proportion (70.7%) of dental students knew what flossing means as compared to medical and paramedical students. There were no significant differences in oral hygiene habits based on socioeconomic status. Female students opined with a greater frequency (70.8%) that irregular teeth have a negative impact on self-esteem and quality of life compared to male students. Female students were more aware of the availability of various types of braces compared to male students, the difference of which was statistically significant. Also, females were more knowledgeable on the availability of invisible braces than males, which was a statistically significant difference. Based on the course of study, significantly lesser percentage of dental students reported observing in the mirror for jaw discrepancies. Paramedical students were significantly less aware than medical and dental students that orthodontic treatment can resolve certain breathing problems. Dental students had significantly higher awareness of the possible necessity to extract some teeth as a part of orthodontic care, availability of various types of braces along with the existence of invisible braces. There were no significant differences based on socioeconomic status in the participants’ responses to orthodontic questions.

Discussion

The word Hygiene (from Greek hygienos) is a science concerned with the investigations of environmental factors that affect human health and how the human body responds to them. The primary factor in the prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases is by obeying the rules of proper oral hygiene. Health education is very important in dentistry and basic of modern prevention programs should be included in all curricula of medical courses.5

Oral disease qualifies as major public health problems owing to their higher prevalence and significant social impact?.6 Oral health is considered as fundamental to general health and well-being. A healthy mouth enables an individual to eat, speak and socialize without experiencing any active disease, discomfort or embarrassment.7 Oral health knowledge is considered to be an essential prerequisite for health related behaviour.8, 9

Orthodontic treatment not only improves quality of life through the correction of aesthetic component, but it also enhances the individual’s self-esteem, most important motivation for orthodontic treatment is usually an improvement in appearance by not only improving the appearance of teeth but overall face. There is a scarcity of data about the awareness of orthodontic treatment and oral health in this region.10

This study assessed attitudes, knowledge and practice of dental students, medical students and paramedical students on oral health and orthodontic treatment. The sample taken was convenience and sample was evaluated by giving self-administered structured questionnaire. In this study it was found that most of the responses were highly significant.

In the current study, it was found that the awareness of dental students was better than the medical and paramedical students but still dental students should have more efficient knowledge in order to promote good oral health. The awareness in the medical and paramedical students regarding the oral hygiene practices and orthodontic treatment was less and the findings were statistically significant. Only less than 40% of the nursing students were aware of practices like flossing, mouth wash etc. whereas 70% of dental students were aware of the same. As compared to various studies1, 11, 12, 13, 14 it was found that regarding orthodontic treatment, 98% of the dental students were aware that orthodontic appliance can correct the position of teeth whereas only 38% of then nursing students had a knowledge of orthodontic therapy. Students belonging to other professions apart from dentistry like engineering (93%), medical (97%), paramedical (91.3%), computer science, literature, economy & education (86.5%) also believed that oral health is very important for overall health.

Regular visits to the dentist were also found to be higher amongst the dental students (70%) than the nursing students (62%). Where as in the study Pradhan et al15 study, dental students (100%) visits to dentist where medical students (35%). A study in Karad also revealed lower percentage regarding the visits to the dentists by the medical students (23.8%). Another study by Al-Hussain et al.16 in Kuwait showed very less percentage (22%) for the dental visits by the students of dentistry, pharmacy and medicine.2, 17, 18

The Knowledge related to bleeding gums and gum diseases was found to be quiet low amongst the nursing students (67%) than the dental students (82%) in this present study and Pradhan et al 15 study was found to be quiet low amongst the medical students (7%) than the dental students (35%), but a better score was found in the study which was conducted in school children of Jordan and their knowledge was found to be better (51.2%) when compared to dental and medical students. 19, 20

Conclusion

Based on the findings of the study, following conclusions are drawn:

Source of Funding

None.

Conflict of Interest

None.