Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs of School Teachers in a Capital City of a Developing Country
PDF

Keywords

Oral health status
school teachers
treatment needs

Abstract

Introduction: Oral health is an integral part of general health. The high prevalence of dental diseases and conditions like dental caries, periodontitis, and malocclusion may lead to absenteeism from work as well as economic loss.

Objective: To assess the oral health status and treatment needs of school teachers in Kathmandu district.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from January-June 2022 among the school teachers of Kathmandu after getting approval from the institutional review committee of Kantipur Dental College. Informed consent was also obtained before the study. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 20. P value ˂0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 165 teachers participated in the study out of which 125 (75.80%) were females and 40 (24.20%) were males with a mean age of 36.29±10 years. The prevalence of dental caries was 98 (59.40%), gingivitis 138 (83.60%), periodontal pocket 40 (24.20%), and 39 (23.60%) had 4-5 mm pocket but only one (0.60%) had more than 6 mm pocket, two (1.20%) had upper and 14 (8.50%) had lower dentures. There was no significant difference in dental caries and periodontal status among the government and private school teachers (P=0.081), (P=0.101) respectively but a significant difference in gingivitis status (P=0.001)

Conclusions: The oral health status of the teachers was not satisfactory since there was a high prevalence of dental diseases. So, it can be improved by periodically conducting oral health education programs at schools and motivating.

PDF

References

Woolfolk MW, Lang WP, Faja BW. Oral health knowledge and sources of information among elementary schoolchildren. J Public Health Dent. 1989;49(1):39-43.
Pai V, Sequeira PS, Rao A, Kundabala M. Dental awareness among Kannada and english medium primary school teachers in mangalore city. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent. 2008;2006(7):7-12.
P Jagan, Fareed N, Battur H, MB SK. Conceptual knowledge of oral health among school teachers in South India, India. Eur J Dent. 2018;12:43-8.
Organization WH. Oral Health Surveys Basic Methods 5th edition. 2013. 83-92 p.
Sunitha S, Aruna G, Doddawad V, Srinivasan A. Oral hygine, periodontal condition and their treatment need of teaching faculty in higher schools. J Int Dent Med Res. 2021;14(4):1592-8.
A Vinita Mary. Oral health status and treatment needs of school teachers in chennai city. J Indian Assoc Public Helath Dent. 2013;11(4):42-7.
Singh H, Chaudhary S, Gupta A, Bhatta A. Oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices among school teachers in Chitwan District, Nepal. Int J Dent. 2021;2021:1-7.
Swamy A, Sogi G, Sudan J, Vedi A, Sharma H. Assessment of oral health status among teaching and non-teaching employees of maharishi markandeshwar (deemed to be university) mullana ambala – A cross-sectional study. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent. 2018;16(3):203-207.
Simon AK, Rao A, Rajesh G, Shenoy R, Pai MBH. Influence of oral health literacy on the oral health status of school teachers in Mangalore, India. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent. 2021;16(2):127-32.
Sunitha S, Mythri H, Gd V, Sushma R. Oral health status and treatment needs of primary and middle school teachers of Davangere City, Karnataka State, India. Res Rev J Dent Sci. 2017;5(4):49-58.
Dikshit P, Limbu S, Gupta S. Oral health knowledge and oral hygiene practices of pre-school teachers in a selected region of Kathmandu city. Indian J Child Health. 2017;04(02):260-4.
Aldowah O, Assiry AA, Mujallid NF, Ashi FN, Abduljawad F, Al-Zahrani MM, Ezzaddin R, Karobari MI . Assessment of oral health knowledge, literacy, and attitude among schoolteachers towards oral health - A cross-sectional study. BMC Oral Health. 2023;23(1):1-10
Lawal FB, Dosumu EB. Periodontal status and treatment needs of primary school teachers in the absence of formal school oral health programme. Niger Dent J. 2015;22(1):32-7.