Estonian Dental Students' Oral Health-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours (KAB): National Survey-Based Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-02, Vol.19 (3), p.1908
• Main Authors: Riad, Abanoub, Põld, Ave, Olak, Jana, Howaldt, Hans-Peter, Klugar, Miloslav, Krsek, Martin, Attia, Sameh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alcohol; Attitudes; Cross-Sectional Studies; Curricula; Dental schools; Dentistry; Dentists; Disease prevention; Drinking behavior; Estonia - epidemiology; Female; Gender; Health Behavior; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health promotion; Humans; Hygiene; Internet; Male; Males; Off odor; Oral Health; Oral Hygiene; Polls & surveys; Population number; Population sampling; Public health; Quantitative psychology; Smoking; Sociodemographics; Students; Students, Dental; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teeth; Tobacco
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031908

The strategic plan for dentistry and oral health in Estonia of 2030 focuses on oral health promotion and disease prevention through undergraduate dental curricula and fostering public health-oriented research among students. The present study was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study to evaluate oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours (KAB) of dental students in Estonia. The study was carried out in the spring semester of 2020, and it used a modified version of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI). A total of 129 students responded to the survey, constituting a response rate of 93.5% due to the total population sampling (census) technique used in this study and the small target population size. Out of the 124 students included in the final analysis, 79% were females, 62.1% were clinical students, 11.3% reported smoking tobacco at least once a week, and 86.3% reported problematic internet use. The present study found that mean HU-DBI score of Estonian dental students was 8.09 ± 1.22 which is so far the highest recorded HU-DBI score in Europe. There was no significant difference between female vs. male or preclinical vs. clinical students in terms of HU-DBI score. While clinical students reported less faulty oral hygiene practices, such as hard toothbrush use and aggressive toothbrushing, preclinical students reported a slightly higher mean HU-DBI score. Smoking behaviour was more common among male and clinical students, and it was also associated with alcohol drinking and worry about teeth colour and halitosis.