Primary oral preventive practices: knowledge and practice among College of Medicine University of Lagos students

This was a prospective study to assess the primary oral preventive practices of 200 students attending the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos. This was assessed using a structure self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to elicit information on knowledge of oral health preventive practices, their beliefs and oral hygiene practice. Two hundred students submitted properly filled questionnaire. Only 35% brushed their teeth twice daily. Interdental cleaning was highly deficient with only 19% performing this procedure. The dental visiting patterns in this group was much better as compared to other Nigerian groups. History of dental visit was significantly associated with a higher perception of treatment need (p-0.03). Level of knowledge of common oral diseases such as periodontal disease was unsatisfactory among this group of students. It is recommended that there should be more emphasis on the teaching of oral disease prevention in the medical curricular.Keywords: primary oral preventive practices, medical students Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 4(2) 2005: 130-13