بررسي نگرش دانشجويان دانشكده هاي دندانپزشكي شهر تهران نسبت به رفتارهاي بهداشت دهان

Attitudes towards oral health behavior among students of dental schools in Tehran

Background and Aim: Effectiveness of oral health promotion programs requires presence of knowledgeable and prevention-oriented dental workforce. The aim of the present study was to investigate attitudes of dental students and its determinants in Tehran towards prevention based on Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A Farsi version of HU-DBI questionnaire was prepared, validated and administered to the pre-clinical and clinical students of three dental schools located in Tehran. Chi-square test and logistic regression model served for statistical analysis. Results: In this cross-sectional study, two-hundred students participated. Women were less likely to agree with the statements "I have noticed some white sticky deposits on my teeth", and "I think I can clean my teeth well without using toothpaste" (P=0.04 and P=0.06, respectively), and more likely to agree with "I think that I cannot help having false teeth when I am old" compared to men (P=0.015). Differences related to the studentsʹ schools also existed in the studentsʹ reactions to the items "I have used a dye to see how clean my teeth are" and "I use a toothbrush which has hard bristles". Differences related to the studentsʹ study year were also found in their attitudes towards prevention. Conclusion: Dental studentsʹ prevention-oriented attitudes seem to be associated with their gender and study year. More emphasis should be placed on prevention in Iranian dental curriculum to overcome those differences in the studentsʹ attitudes which are related to background and academic characteristics.