1Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Thai Moogambigai Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
2Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Thai Moogambigai Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
3Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Kesavan R, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Thai Moogambigai Dental College and Hospital, Golden George Nagar, Mogappair, Chennai-600030, Phone: 9884377268, Email: keshavan84@gmail.com
Online published on 4 June, 2019.
Oral health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic oral health information. A common reason for misunderstanding health instructions may be the patient's low oral health literacy skills.
The study design was a descriptive cross sectional, which included 457 study participants. They were selected using stratified random sampling. Oral health literacy was assessed using Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-30). Dental caries and gingival status was assessed according to the methods described in WHO Oral Health Survey.
The overall mean REALD-30 score of the participants was 18.1±4.8. The mean REALD-30 scores were lowest (14.6±4.4) among students in the low socioeconomic status. The oral health literacy scores of individuals who brush their teeth twice and rinse their mouth after meals were significantly higher. The mean number of teeth with gingival bleeding and dental caries were significantly low in study participants with high oral health literacy.
It was concluded that the overall oral health literacy of the study population as moderate and it does have an impact on the oral health status of the study population.
Health education, Oral health, Decay, Students, Gingivitis
