Fetor Oris and Oral Health Practices among Undergraduate Medical & Dental Students

Abstract

The undergraduate dental and medical students are considered to adopt better oral practices and lifestyle practices. It is important to assess oral health practices of dental and medical students as they are the future health professionals of a country. The present study aims to evaluate bad breath problem among the dental and medical students of a private institute of Karachi, and relate it to their various oral health practices and lifestyle activities. It was a cross sectional study and the data was collected from the 240 undergraduate medical and dental students of a private medical and dental college of Karachi with the help of a questionnaire. However, only 200 forms were adequately filled and returned back with a response rate of 83.33%. Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS version 21. It was observed that approximately 15% students complained of bad breath or fetor oris. Medical students were found significantly more concerned about brushing their teeth as compare to dental students (92% Vs 73.5%). It was also observed that only 25% of students flossed their teeth daily although 40-60% of students had history of dental carries. It is concluded that poor oral health practices and lifestyle activities were observed for both the dental and medical students. Hence it is recommended that knowledge and practices regarding self-oral healthcare should be emphasized among these students as they are the role model for their patients and society