Oral health among first and fifth year students of dental medicine at the Faculty of medicine of the University of Split

Cilj istraživanja: Cilj ovoga istraživanja je ispitati oralno-higijenske navike i kvalitetu života u odnosu na oralno zdravlje studenata prve i pete godine dentalne medicine. Materijali i metode: U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 57 studenata dentalne medicine, odnosno dvije skupine od kojih je jedna bila prva godina dentalne medicine, a druga peta godina dentalne medicine. Ispitanicima su zabilježeni dob, spol, navike pušenja, broj godišnjih odlazaka doktoru dentalne medicine te kotištenje sredstava za održavanje oralne higijene. Uz navedene parametre studenti su ispunili Oral Health Impact Profile upitnik (OHIP-14) te im je izmjeren KEP indeks. Rezultati: Anamnestičkim upitnikom utvrđeno je kako ispitanici nisu u velikom broju bili pušači te su odlazili na redovne kontrole kod doktora dentalne medicine. Studenti pete godine su imali veću akumulaciju plaka, što se pokazalo i kao statistički značajan podatak (P < 0,001). Oralno-higijenske navike u obje skupine studenata pokazale su se kao odlične, odnosno velika većina je navela kako pere zube više od dva puta dnevno. Od svih ponuđenih dodatnih sredstava za održavanje oralne higijene, svi studenti koriste barem jedan. Na prvoj godini to je zubni konac, dok studenti pete godine osim konca koristi i interdentalne četkice, što se pokazalo statistički značajno (P = 0,004). U većoj mjeri koriste i vodice za ispiranje usta (P = 0,038), a prijavili su i češće profesionalno uklanjanje naslaga od studenata na prvoj godini (P = 0,015). Studenti prve i pete godine razlikovali su se i prema KEP indeksu (P = 0,017), odnosno, studenti pete godine imali su veću vrijednost KEP indeksa. Studenti pete godine imali su više saniranih zubi (P < 0,001) te više ekstrahiranih zubi (P = 0,014), dok su studenti prve godine imali veći broj intaktnih zubi. Ispunjavanjem OHIP-14 upitnika nisu se pokazale statistički značajne razlike, odnosno, obje skupine imaju visoku kvalitetu života vezanu za oralno zdravlje. Zaključak: Rezultati ovog istraživanja pokazuju kako postoje razlike u oralno-higijenskim navikama studenata prve i pete godine dentalne medicine. Također, razlika postoji i u KEP indeksu koji se mjerio u sklopu ovog istraživanja, dok u kvaliteti života u odnosu na oralno zdravlje nismo pronašli razlike među ispitivanim skupinama.Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine oral-hygiene habits and quality of life in relation to the oral health of first and fifth year dental students. Materials and methods: The study involved 57 dental students, ie two groups, one of which was the first year of dental medicine and the other the fifth year of dental medicine. Respondents were recorded age, gender, smoking habits, number of annual visits to the dentist and means for maintaining oral hygiene. In addition to the above parameters, students completed the Oral Health Impact Profile Questionnaire (OHIP-14) and their KEP index was measured. Results: The anamnestic questionnaire determined that a large number of respondents were non smokers and went for regular check-ups with dentists. Fifth-year students had a higher accumulation of plaque, which proved to be a statistically significant data (P < 0,001). Oral hygiene habits in both groups of students proved to be excellent, ie the vast majority stated that they brush their teeth more than twice a day. Of all the additional oral hygiene products offered, all students use at least one. In the first year it is dental floss, while the fifth year students use interdental brushes in addition to floss, which proved to be statistically significant (P = 0,004) and to a greater extent they also use mouthwashes (P = 0,038) and are more frequent with professional removal of deposits from the first year of students (P = 0,015). First and fifth year students also differed according to the KEP index (P = 0,017), ie fifth year students had a higher value of the KEP index. Fifth-year students had more filled teeth (P < 0,001) and more extracted teeth (P = 0,014), while the first year had a higher number of sound teeth. Completion of the OHIP-14 questionnaire did not show statistically significant differences, ie both groups have a high quality of life related to oral health. Conclusion: The results of this research show that there are differences in the oral hygiene habits of first and fifth year dental students. There is also a difference in the KEP index measured in this study, while we did not find statistically significant differences in quality of life compared to oral health