Assessment of Oral Hygiene Practices Among Youth in Tamilnadu –An Online Survey

Abstract

Back Ground:Preventive dental care practises are important in maintaining good oral health in order to improve their general health. One of the factors contributing to poor oral hygiene practises is a lack of knowledge about the importance and proper methods to maintain it. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevailing oral hygiene practices among youth in Tamilnadu.  MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in Tamil Nadu in which subjects were included from the rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu through online survey using Google forms by convenient sampling method. A self-administered 15 item closed ended questionnaire was used in the survey. RESULTS Habit of brushing only once a day was found in 309(67.9%) of the study subjects where 146 (32.1 %) were brushing twice a day. Almost 449 (98.7 %) people use tooth brush and tooth paste and  151 (33.2 %) of them use pea size of toothpaste to brush. 290(63.7 %) of the study population take 2-3minutes for brushing. 308 (67.7%) members from study group have the habit of cleaning their tongue. 210 (46.4 %)members of the study population have never visited dentist CONCLUSION In this study it was evident that most of them were using toothbrush and toothpaste as an  oral hygiene aid but there is lack of awareness about proper brushing technique, duration of brushing, frequency of changing the tooth brush and use of  other oral hygiene aids which requires emphasis through oral health education programs.