Saudi Journal of Oral and Dental Research (SJODR)
Volume-3 | Issue-07 | 224-230
Original Research Article
Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Secondary School Students in Sana'a City, Yemen
Khaled A. AL-Jawfi, Ali M. Al-Mashhadani
Published : July 30, 2018
Abstract
This study was designed to assess oral health knowledge, attitudes and
practices among secondary schools students in Sana'a city, Yemen. A cross-sectional
questionnaire-based study was conducted on (1000) of secondary school students, (500)
male students and (500) female students with an age ranged from 16-19 years. A selfadministered structured questionnaire consisting of 24 questions on socio-demographic
data, oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices was distributed and collected data
was subjected to statistical analysis. The mean knowledge scores for the secondary
school students was 72.27 with a statistically significant difference between males and
females (P = 0.001). Nearly 75.5% of them reported that regular visits to the dentist are
necessary. In contrast, nearly (60.3%) of them visited the dentist when they felt pain and
toothache was the most leading reason provided for visiting the dentist (62.1%).
Moreover, nearly 42.9% of them reported that fear of needles and drilling was the major
reason for their fearing of visiting the dentist. The use of toothbrush and paste was the
most oral hygiene method used (78.6%). About 44.6% of them brushed their teeth once
per day and 36.8% of them spent one minute for brushing their teeth. Nearly 44.3% of
them reported that the time of tooth brushing was before going to bed only. Finally, most
of them (74.1%) reported that their parents advised them about the importance of oral
hygiene without their watching and did not supervise them. It showed that the students
had good oral health knowledge. However, their oral health knowledge, attitudes and
practices were bitter in female students than male students.