Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Amongst Teachers of Public School Set-up of Karach, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Schools provide an effective forum to enhance general as well as oral health awareness among children and the teachers may serve as pioneer role models to motivate children towards healthy lifestyle. The current study reflects at one of the components of a school-based oral health education initiative, projected by a public dental institute of Karachi, Pakistan. The objective was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices relate dental health amongst teachers of public schools of Karachi, Pakistan.

Methodology: It was a 6-month cross-sectional study. Two-stage cluster sampling was utilized; in first stage, a list of public schools located in Saddar town was acquired and ten schools were randomly selected. In second stage, 12 teachers were selected at random from the list of teachers acquired from each selected school. Hence, total 120 teachers were requested to participate in questionnaire-based study.

Results: Sixty-two percent teachers lacked knowledge about tooth decay. Seventy-four percent identified sugar as an etiological factor for caries while 44% identified bacteria as the primary cause of tooth decay. Sixty-six percent teachers were aware about the protective role of fluoride against dental caries and 48% did not feel that brushing teeth of babies with a tooth-paste was a necessity. Sixty-five percent rated their oral health as good and 67% had visited a dentist. All teachers brushed regularly but only 9% used favorable amount of toothpaste.