Oral hygiene habits, periodontal status and need for treatment in university students

• Autor(a) principal: Lucena, Renaly Nunes de
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Menezes, Karyna de Melo, Cavalcanti, Alessandro Leite, Granville-Garcia, Ana Flávia, Lins, Ruthinéia Diógenes Alves Uchoa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRN
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/22994
• topic: Periodontics; Oral hygiene; Students

Purpose: This study aimed to assess oral hygiene habits, periodontal status and need for treatment of students. Methods: The sample consisted of 392 students from the State University of Paraíba divided into eight groups according to their course: Dentistry (62), Physiotherapy (49), Pharmacy (45), Nursing (77), Physical Education (50), Psychology (47), Computing (26), and Statistics (36). The periodontal index PSR was used to analyze the periodontal condition, and the Treatment Implications were determined. Data were analyzed with Epi-Info 3.3.2 software and the chi-square test was used. Results: The majority of students (78.1%) reported flossing daily and 57.9% reported brushing their teeth three times a day. It was found that the students of Dentistry, Nursing, Physical Education, Psychology and Statistics had a higher prevalence of gingivitis and Treatment Implication 2. For the students of Physiotherapy, Pharmacy and Computing, the most prevalent diagnosis was suggestive of Periodontitis and Treatment Implication 4. Statistically significant associations (p<0,05) were found between periodontal diagnosis and the courses and between Treatment Implications and the courses. Conclusion: Most students exhibited periodontal changes, though they demonstrated satisfactory oral hygiene habits. The study found that Dentistry students had better periodontal status and oral hygiene habits than students from other courses.