Amjad H Wyne, Arham N Chohan, May Al Hamdan.
Oral health knowledge and sources of information among a group of female Saudi School children.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;12(3):155-9.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the oral health knowledge and sources of information in a selected group of female school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The information about oral health knowledge and sources of information was collected through an especially designed questionnaire. A total of 202 children completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the children was 13.4 (SD 2.1) with a range of 10 to 16 years. RESULTS: A great majority (81.2%) of the children had heard about fluoride, more than half (55.4%) correctly identified the action of fluoride as preventing tooth decay. Almost all (97.0%) the children thought that sweets (chocolates/candies) could cause tooth decay. However, a large number of children were not aware of cariogenic potential of sweetened milk (64.4%) and soft drinks (14.4%). Toothbrush (79.2%) was rated as the best cleaning aid followed by miswak (12.4%). Most of the children (85.1%) thought that teeth should be cleaned after each meal. Fifty percent of children reported that their parents had taught them how to brush properly. About one in every five children (22.30%) thought that one must visit the dentist only in case of toothache. Parents (49.0%) were the most popular source of oral health information followed by dentists (36.6%) and media (18.9%). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the children need further oral health education in areas of caries and periodontal prevention, and there was a need to utilize schoolteachers and media to enhance their oral health knowledge.

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