Article_6_1_4
DENTAL EDUCATİON
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
Original Article
POPULATION IN TURKEY
Görkem Sengez1a , Sina Saygılı2a , Mehmet Yıldız3b , Uğur Aksoy4a , Hande Șar Sancaklı1c*
1
Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, 34093, Çapa-Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
2
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, 34093, Çapa-Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey,
3
Department of Dental Services, Faculty of Dentistry, Toros University, 33140, Yenişehir, Mersin, Turkey
4
Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, 34093, Çapa-Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
a
DDS, PhD, Researcher
b
DDS
c
DDS, PhD, Associate Professor
ABSTRACT DOI: https://doi.org/10.25241/stomaeduj.2019.6(1).art.4
Introduction: Transition from adolescence to adulthood is an important episode in life OPEN ACCESS This is an
Open Access article under
since it determines a person’s long-time health behavior and their tendency to carry chronic the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
diseases. The present study aims to assess oral health behavior and awareness of the young Peer-Reviewed
population in Turkey. Article
Methodology: A sample of 2,740 students (1309 male, 1431 female) from 5 different Citation: Sengez G, Saygili S,
universities studying 10 different degree subjects completed a questionnaire related to Yildiz M, Aksoy U, Sar Sancakli
H. Oral health behaviour and
their oral health behavior. Age, gender and degree subjects were also recorded. The data awaraness of young population
in Turkey. Stoma Edu J.
were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. 2019;6(1):29-35.
Results: 66.6% of the students brushed their teeth twice or more times daily. The brushing Received: February 15, 2019
frequency of students studying different degree subjects is significantly different(p<0.01). Revised: March 01, 2019
Accepted: March 26, 2019
Dental students have the highest brushing frequency whereas sports students have the Published: March 7, 2019
lowest. 38% of the participants indicated that they use mouthwash; however, only 21.2% *Corresponding author:
used it daily. 21.2% of the participants visit a dentist once or twice per year. 50.9% of the Dr. Hande Şar Sancaklı, DDS, PhD,
Associate Professor, Department
participants experience bleeding while brushing. Only 28.8% had regular scaling and of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty
polishing. 22.6% of the participants smoke, while 18.8% stated that they have halitosis. of Dentistry, Istanbul University,
34093, Capa-Fatih, Istanbul,
Conclusion: The present study indicated that oral health behavior of young population Turkey, Tel: / Fax: +90 212
4142020, e-mail:
needs to be further improved. Therefore, oral health education programs should be initiated handesar@istanbul.edu.tr,
to emphasize the importance of oral hygiene. handesar@hotmail.com
Keywords: Oral hygiene; health attitude; health education; health risk behaviors; Copyright: © 2019 the
Editorial Council for the
toothbrushing. Stomatology Edu Journal.
1. Introduction known that people who adopted the habit of brushing
As one of the world’s leading authority on oral health, their teeth at least twice a day have less dental caries
the World Dental Federation (FDI) identifies dental caries compared to others. Apart from the toothbrush,
and periodontal diseases among the most common oral hygiene aids such as interdental brush, tongue
and crucial global oral health burdens [1]. Scientific cleanser, chewing gum and mouthwash can be used in
evidence shows a significant relationship between oral healthcare regimen [7].
oral health and general health. Non-communicable Consistent health behavior is established at the early
diseases such as cancer, diabetes, respiratory, stages of human life, with the help of the parents,
cardiovascular and oral diseases share mutual risk teachers and caretakers [8,9]. At the age of the
factors. The possibility of having systemic diseases transition from childhood to adulthood, a teenager’s
increase in the presence of periodontitis, or vice versa routines and habits are likely to be challenged since
[2,3]. VanWormer et al. stated that participants with they experience independence for the first time and
poor oral hygiene have higher cardiovascular disease carry more responsibilities. During their university
risk than those who have good oral health [4]. years students encounter new experiences, stress,
Prevention of oral diseases is the most efficient social pressure and busyness. Oral and general hygiene
approach to ensure oral health. The primary etiologic habits can become less important with the intrusion of
factor of periodontal diseases is microbial plaque; all these factors [8,10].
therefore, they can mostly be prevented by plaque Through the review of the related literature, there are
control. The most common way to remove plaque some studies which observe the oral health behavior of
is tooth brushing and flossing as they avoid plaque young population around the world. Different findings
accumulation on teeth and gums. Plaque elimination were reported depending on cultural beliefs, financial
also contributes to the prevention of caries [5,6]. It is situation and education strategies [10-12]. There are
Stomatology Edu Journal 29
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
POPULATION IN TURKEY
only a few studies investigated the oral health behavior
Original Article of Turkish university students. This study aims to
determine the oral health habits of university students
from five different universities and ten different
departments [13-15].
The hypothesis of the present study is that there would
be slight differences on the evaluation of oral health
awareness level of the current young generation
considering their awareness and tendency regarding
the oral health care behavior.
2. Material and Methods
This study was conducted at five university campuses
in different cities of Turkey, which were Gazi University
(Ankara), Istanbul University (Istanbul), Abant Izzet
Baysal University (Bolu), Ege University (Izmir) and
Kocaeli University (Kocaeli). Universities from different
cities with a high average student count were selected
in order to represent the situation in different areas
of Turkey with an adequate number of subjects. The
student numbers at the respective campuses were
21270 for Gazi University, 6171 for Istanbul University,
21568 for Abant Izzet Baysal University, 27439 for
Ege University and 23951 for Kocaeli University.
Participation was voluntary and anonymous.
On World Oral Health Day (March 20th, 2012), desks
were set by volunteer dental students in a popular area Figure 1. Sample of the questionnaire used in the present study.
of the campuses. The volunteers were prepared during
a 2 hour-training by a professor from their universities Table 1. Distribution of students by university, gender, age and degree
before the event. On the day of the event, the students subject.
were invited to participate in the study. They were Characteristics n % Mean
informed about the study and signed a consent form
if they agreed to participate. 3150 students were asked, City
2740 agreed to participate. The participation rate was Ankara 275 10
87%. After completing the survey, the participants
were given an oral health education lecture. The study Istanbul 574 20.9
included 2740 undergraduate students (1309 male, Bolu 569 20.8
1431 female) enrolled in different faculties which Izmir 638 23.3
were Sports, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Science, Nursing,
Kocaeli 684 25
Economics, Engineering, Teaching, Humanities and
Social Sciences and Medicine. Gender
As reviewed in similar studies, an 11-item questionnaire Male 1309 47.7
was designed and validated through a pilot survey
Female 1431 52.3
before. The questions were designed to evaluate oral
health habits and awareness of the students enrolled Age 21.08 ± 2.25
in different faculties. Age, gender, degree subject were
Degree Subject
also recorded. Participants were asked to fill out the
self-administered questionnaire (Fig. 1). They received Sports 68 2.5
an explanation of how to fill in. The questionnaires Dentistry 92 3.4
were collected immediately after they were filled and
Pharmacy 33 1.2
volunteer dental students gave participants an oral
care education lecture. Science 246 9.0
Nursing 55 2.0
2.1. Statistical Analysis Economics 114 4.2
The data obtained were organized into Microsoft
Excel (Microsoft Inc., USA) and analyzed statistically Engineering 461 16.8
using SPSS 21.0 software (IBM Inc., USA). The standard Teaching 536 19.6
descriptive methods were applied to determine the Social Sciences 559 20.4
characteristics of the sample. Each data set was tested
Medicine 576 21.0
for normality with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.
Categorical variables between groups were compared
by the Pearson’s chi-square test. The confidence 3. Results
interval was set to 95% and p-values less than 0.05 The answers of the students according to degree subject
were considered statistically significant. were given in Table 2. 52,8% of the participants changed
30 Stoma Edu J. 2019;6(1): 29-35. http://www.stomaeduj.com
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
POPULATION IN TURKEY
Original Article
Table 2. Frequency of toothbrushing, use of oral hygiene aids, smoking, receiving oral health education before and belief of the correct frequency of
toothbrushing.
Frequency of Toothbrushing Oral Hygiene Aids Smoking Oral Health Education Belief of the Correct Frequency of TB
Once a Twice a Thrice a After each Once a Twice a Thrice a
Never Yes No Yes No Yes No
day day day/more meal day day day/more
Sports 3 (4.4) 28 (41.2) 29 (42.6) 7 (10.3) 1 (1.5) 66 (97.1) 2 (2.9) 23 (33.8) 45 (66.2) 34 (50) 34 (50) 4 (5.9) 39 (57.4) 25 (36.8)
Dentistry 4 (4.3) 16 (17.4) 62 (67.4) 10 (10.9) 0 (0) 92 (100) 0 (0) 25 (27.2) 67 (72.8) 47 (51.1) 45 (48.9) 2 (2.2) 57 (64) 30 (33.7)
Pharmacy 3 (9.1) 7 (21.2) 20 (60.6) 2 (6.1) 1 (3) 33 (100) 0 (0) 9 (27.3) 24 (72.7) 17 (51.5) 16 (48.5) 3 (9.1) 18 (54.5) 12 (36.4)
Science 7 (2.8) 72 (29.3) 136 (55.3) 27 (11) 4 (1.6) 241 (98) 5 (2) 50 (20.3) 196 (79.7) 135 (54.9) 111 (45.1) 18 (7.4) 113 (46.3) 113 (46.3)
Nursing 1 (1.8) 23 (41.8) 29 (52.7) 1 (1.8) 1 (1.8) 55 (100) 0 (0) 11 (20) 44 (80) 27 (49.1) 28 (50.9) 6 (10.9) 25 (45.5) 24 (43.6)
Economics 10 (8.8) 29 (25.4) 67 (58.8) 8 (7) 0 (0) 111 (97.4) 3 (2.6) 23 (20.2) 91 (79.8) 52 (45.6) 62 (54.4) 10 (8.9) 58 (51.8) 44 (39.3)
Engineering 24 (5.2) 136 (29.5) 253 (54.9) 38 (8.2) 10 (2.2) 450 (97.6) 11 (2.4) 117 (25.4) 344 (74.6) 226 (49) 235 (51) 33 (7.3) 233 (51.2) 189 (41.5)
Teaching 35 (6.5) 137 (25.6) 322 (60.1) 35 (6.5) 7 (1.3) 508 (94.8) 28 (5.2)a 110 (20.5) 426 (79.5) 250 (46.6) 286 (53.4) 27 (5.1) 255 (47.9) 250 (47)
Social Sciences 29 (5.2) 148 (26.5) 327 (58.5) 50 (8.9) 5 (0.9) 554 (99.1) 5 (0.9)b 133 (23.8) 426 (76.2) 277 (49.6) 282 (50.4) 31 (5.6) 275 (49.5) 249 (44.9)
Medicine 31 (5.4) 172 (29.9) 327 (56.8) 36 (6.3) 10 (1.7) 555 (96.4) 21 (3.6)a 118 (20.5) 458 (79.5) 353 (61.3) 223 (38.7) 30 (5.3) 329 (57.7) 211 (37)
p 0.072 0.001 0.162 < 0.001 0.025
their toothbrush every 3 months, while 30,1% of them Table 3. Percentages of oral-health education receivers and non-receiv-
changed every 6-12 months. About 28% of the students ers of dentist visits, frequency of toothbrushing and halithosis.
brushed their teeth once, 57.4% of them twice, 9.2%
of them three times per day. 5.4% never or irregularly Dental Care
Oral Health Education
brushed their teeth. There is no significance between Visit p
faculty and frequency of toothbrushing (p > 0.05). Yes No
54.4% of sports students, 79.4% of dentistry, 69.7% of Never/Rarely 611 682
pharmacy, 67.9% of science, 65.8% of economics, 65.3% (n = 1293) (43.1%)* (51.6%)
In case of a 476 390
of engineering, 67.9% of teaching, 68.3% of humanities toothache
and social sciences and 64.8% of medicine students (n = 866) (33.6%)* (29.5%) <0.001
brushed their teeth twice or more times daily. Twice a year 330 250
97.3% of the students used one or more oral care (n = 580) (23.3%)* (18.9%)
product other than toothpaste included mouthwash Frequency of
(38%), gum (31.8%), floss (26.5%), tongue scraper toothbrushing
(13.5%), dental toothpick (6.4%) and interdental brush Never/ 52 94
(4.7%). 72.8% of the participants never/irregularly used Irregularly (3.7%)* (7.1%)
(n = 146)
mouthwash, while 15.4% used once and 5.8% twice
Once daily 372 397
a day. There is a statistical significance between oral (n = 769) (26.2%)* (30.0%)
hygiene aids usage by students from different faculties. <0.001
Twice daily 854 719
Table 3 presents the summary statistics for receiving (n = 1573) (60.2%)* (54.4%)
oral health education (OHE) before. Thrice or more 140 112
Dental care visit is in relation with receiving oral daily (n = 252) (9.9%) (8.5%)
health education (p<0,01). Of those whom received
OHE, 43.1% never visits a dentist, 33.6% visits in case Halithosis
of a toothache and 23.3% visits twice annualy. These 225 291
Yes (n = 516)
percentages are statistically significant. (15.9%) (22.0%)
<0.001
There is a statistical significance in the frequency No (n = 2224) 1193 1031
of toothbrushing between OHE receivers and non- (84.1%) (78.0%)
receivers. 3.7% of the OHE receivers stated they never *Cells which cause signification
or irregularly brush their teeth while 7.1% non-receivers Table 4. Frequencies of bleeding during brushing.
did the same. 60.2% of the OHE receivers and 54.4% of
non-receivers brush their teeth twice a day. There is no Bleeding during
brushing
significance in students who brush their teeth three Total
times or more daily. Yes No
The students who experience halitosis is higher than Regular Yes 15.8% 13.0% 28.8%
students who did not receive OHE than those who Scaling &
received. Polishing No 35.2% 36.0% 71.2%
28.8% of the students had regular scaling and polishing. Total 51.0% 49.0% 100.0%
In Table 4, the relationship between bleeding while tooth p < 0.05
brushing and regular scaling/polishing were provided (p
< 0.05). 15.8% of the subjects who had regular scaling Table 5. Brushing frequency of smokers and non-smokers.
(1-2 times/year) experienced bleeding during brushing Smoking
while 35.2% of the ones who did not have regular scaling Total
experienced the same problem. Among these students, Yes No
only 16.8% sought help from a dentist. 1 or 7.2% 15.4% 22.6%
Frequency of less
Table 5 presents an overview of smoking habits among
Toothbrushing 2 or
students. 77.4% of the students were nonsmokers more 52.8% 24.6% 77.4%
and 22.6% of them were smokers. Brushing frequency
Total 60.0% 40.0% 100.0%
among smokers and nonsmokers were statistically
p < 0.01
Stomatology Edu Journal 31
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
POPULATION IN TURKEY
significant (p < 0.01). 13.1% of the smokers never Indian (54.4%) and Iranian (57%) dental students, but
Original Article or irregularly brushed, while only 3.1% of the non- lower than Lithuanian dental students (92%) [31-33].
smokers did the same. In total, 82% of the non-smokers In the latter study, 73.3% of the technology students
brushed twice daily, while 68.2% of the smokers did the brushed their teeth twice, which is higher than that
same. Sports students evinced the highest smoking of engineering students (65.3%) in the present study.
rate among students. Dental and pharmacy students What is pleasing is that the habits of the students of the
followed. Nursing students evinced the lowest rate. teaching department were relatively better than some
of the other departments. Taking into consideration
that these students will be the future role models for
4. Discussion children, this is a good start that needs improvement.
Health behavior is defined as the activities undertaken In a previous study, it was reported that 90.7% of the
by people in order to protect, promote or maintain nursing students in Hong Kong brush at least twice
health, and to prevent disease [16]. It can be determined a day [34]. Another study revealed that 61% of the
by numbers of factors including education, beliefs, nursing students in Jordan brush at least twice a day
social environment (family, friends, opinion leaders), [35]. Oral health is known to be closely related to general
skills, financial situation and time [17]. Having an health. As one of the primary healthcare professionals,
excellent oral health care routine which includes nurses are expected to provide a good example to the
tooth brushing, use of dental floss and mouthwash, a patients and their community. They also have the task of
balanced diet, frequent (ideally every six months) visits informing the hospitalized patients or the public of oral
to the dentist will lead to a caries-free oral cavity [18,19]. health prevention in rural areas, where the number of
According to previous studies poor dental behavior, dentists is relatively low. For this reason, oral health care
diet and smoking are the risk factors of periodontal courses should be given during nursing education [36].
diseases [20,21]. The oral health behavior establishes Another critical finding was about the medical students’
the health condition of the oral cavity. Chronic oral oral health. The frequency of tooth brushing of medical
conditions such as dental caries and periodontitis are students is significantly lower than that of dental
common, yet preventable. During a person’s lifetime, students. The medical students’ frequency of tooth
the progression of these conditions is induced by brushing is relatively lower than that of dental students.
structural and behavioral factors [22]. Medicine education is part of the undergraduate dental
Differing among different academic-based students, curriculum and supported by extensive study of human
the hypothesis of the currents study that there would diseases. However, the involvement of dental subjects
be slight differences on the evaluation of oral health in the educational program of medical students is
awareness level of the current young generation limited [37]. Loster and Likeman (2012) suggested that
considering their awareness and tendency regarding the basic dental knowledge of medical students will
the oral health care behavior has been clearly accepted. lead to stronger communication between dentists and
In the literature review, while some researches evaluated medical doctors. This suggestion will further support
the behavioral aspects of specific groups, no study has the idea of oral health being a significant part of
evaluated this much of a population in Turkey. The general health, and professionals of those fields should
present study reveals that 33.4% of Turkish university work together for a healthier community [38].
students brush their teeth less than twice a day, which WHO states that 60-90% of the schoolchildren and
is below the recommended behavior [23]. This data almost 100% of the adults have dental cavities which
are in accordance with the previous studies which indicate an epidemic situation worldwide [39]. Every
investigates Turkish university students’ dental care 92 out of 100 people need treatment for dental caries
habits. Peltzer and Pengpid (2014), Kırtıloğlu and Yavuz in Turkey [36]. Visits to a dental professional regularly
(2006) and who reported 32% and 32.4% of the Turkish (once every six months) increase the likelihood of early
students show inadequate brushing respectively diagnose of oral diseases [18]. Statistics about the oral
[11,13]. In the same study of Peltzer and Pengpid, it was health condition and frequency of dentist visits are
also stated that Indian (52.2%), Lebanese (35%) and relatively low in Turkey compared to the global average.
Nigerian (79.1%) university students brush their teeth 47% of the population have not visited a dentist in the
less than twice a day. Previous studies have shown that last year, while 12.5% have never been to one. 51%
92% of the university students brush their teeth twice of the patients visit a dentist only when they have a
or more times a day in Italy [24], and 85% of the 20-25 problem and only %10 visit a dentist for routine dental
Swedes brush their teeth once or twice a day [25]. 80% check-ups [37]. According to the present study results,
of the university students in the USA are reported to 19.3% of the students visit the dentist regularly. The
brush their teeth twice or more daily [26]. Other studies probable cause of this difference is that the oral health
conducted in UK and Norway [27,28] have revealed knowledge by the young population may be higher
high percentages of brushing twice a day whereas than by the general population in Turkey. This can be
lower findings were reported in Lebanon and Kuwait explained by the effect of college education and higher
[12,29]. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is use of social media among the young population [40].
that the industrialized and developing countries have In reviewing the literature, it was found that 60% of
significant differences concerning oral health behavior. the Korean dental hygiene students postpone visiting
It could be the reflection of cultural beliefs, education a dentist until they have a toothache, whereas only
system and financial status [11,30]. 1% of the US dental hygiene students agreed to this
As shown in Table 3, the dental students brushing remark [36]. In another study, it was found that 41%
frequency is higher than the other departments, which of Japanese and only 3% of Finnish dental students
was an expected outcome. This finding is higher than have the same opinion [30]. A study including multiple
32 Stoma Edu J. 2019;6(1): 29-35. http://www.stomaeduj.com
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
POPULATION IN TURKEY
countries found that 58.2% of university students Another finding was that 22.6% of the university
Original Article
rarely or never had gone for a dentist visit [11], which students are smokers and 82% of the non-smokers
is higher than the present study (47.2%). These results brush twice daily, while 68.2% of the smokers do the
corroborate with the findings of Kawamura et al. (2002) same. This finding indicates that poor oral health
who stated that the Asian way of dealing with the behavior (smoking) and the frequency of tooth
disease is different from the Western concepts and that brushing are associated, which is mostly consistent
they only seek professional help when home remedies with the previous study findings [11,12,31]. Based on
are unsuccessful [36]. Also, there are other studies these findings, it is suggested that oral and general
conducted in Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and health promotion programs should be combined
Jordan in which the subjects tend to visit the dentist and encourage positive health behavior in public
only if they have a problem or are in pain [41,42]. The [11]. Healthcare professionals have an essential role
thought of preventive care being unnecessary and in smoking cessation [47,48]. However, in a study
financial status were the major obstacles preventing investigating the dentists’ role in tobacco control it was
the subjects from visiting the dental office regularly. suggested that 60% of the dentists do not routinely
Oral hygiene aids such as mouth rinse, floss and recommend the smokers to quit. Therefore, the
interdental brush should be used as complementary education of dental students may emphasize more
to tooth brushing in order to maintain a better plaque tobacco control of patients [49]. According to present
removal from interdental areas [18]. In the present study, Turkish dental and medical students’ smoking
study mouth rinse (38%) and floss (26.5%) are the rates are higher than Lithuanian dental students (12%)
most frequently used aids, while interdental brush and American medical students (6.1%) but lower than
(4.7%) is the least common oral hygiene aids that the that of Italian medical students (29.5%) [33,50]. Previous
subjects have at home. However, only 21.2% of them studies indicated that non-smoking physicians are
use mouth rinse regularly. These results reflect those more successful at getting patients to quit smoking.
of Kırtıloğlu and Yavuz (2006) who also examined the Since healthcare professionals have a high impact on
frequency of regular use of antibacterial rinse (18.8%) patients to establish positive health behavior, future
and interdental brush (1.6%) in Turkish students [13]. interventions should aim to eliminate tobacco usage
Cultural belief has a strong relationship with oral among the students [50].
hygiene habits. In a study conducted in Saudi Arabia, Limitations of this study were the lack of socioeconomic
the use of miswak was found to be high among school status and background information of the participants.
children [43]. In a previous study, it was mentioned that Another limitation is that dental health behavior
52% of the students use a toothpick daily, which is a was only assessed by self-report. This could lead
low-cost interdental cleaning device used frequently to an optimistic view of the current situation since
in Turkey. However, the findings of the current study sometimes respondents tend to overestimate their
(6.4%) do not support previous research. A possible actual health behaviors due to the social acceptability
explanation for this might be that the word ‘dental of their answers. Future studies may include a dental
toothpick’ was used in the questionnaire which may examination and socio-economic status related
confuse the subjects and prevent them from marking questions.
the option even if they use it.
Several reports have shown that 81% of the Turkish
children did not have a regular tooth brushing habit. 5. Conclusion
72% of Turkish high school children needed oral health The findings of this study indicated that young Turkish
education [14]. The main objective of oral health generation sectioned from different parts of the
education is to enhance knowledge which may lead country revealed low level of oral health awareness
to better oral health behavior [44]. According to the and behavioral routines; moreover, the overall aspect
present study results 51.8% of the subjects had received was found to be of a lesser extent when compared to
oral health education. This is lower than another study high-income countries.
made in Turkey (61%) and higher than Lithuanian Regarding the data indicated there is an association
technology students [13,33]. Oral health education between previous OHE and oral health behavior on
and preventive programs are vital in decreasing caries which academic tendency plays a differentiating role
and periodontal diseases prevalence in children and in oral health behavior. Beside the primary oral health
the young population [13]. Studies have shown that indicators, the risk factors threatening the oral health
teachers, family and peers have a more significant also needs to be enrolled on the awareness raising
role than dentists in adopting oral health behavior programmes. Thus, positive inclined health behavior
in adolescents [15]. Oral health education given at adopted in the early adult phase of one’s life would
school considered to be efficient since the school encourage the young population to adopt better
children are approached at an age when their habits health behavior.
are forming. Besides, such education may not only
reach the children but their family and community
members [45]. It was shown in a study by Eden et al. Author Contributions
(2018) that correct brushing techniques education is GS: planned and organized the study. wrote the
more effective if given by teachers than dentists [46]. manuscript. SS: collected and imported the data
In the present study, only less than half of the teaching into the computer. MY: coordinated the volunteer
students (46.6%) had received oral health education. students in different cities. UA: interpreted the data.
It is important to emphasize more educating future HS: provided the critical revision and guidance.
teachers on oral health for a healthier community.
Stomatology Edu Journal 33
ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AND AWARENESS OF YOUNG
POPULATION IN TURKEY
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Original Article Acknowledgement ed. Upper Saddle River (NJ), USA: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2004.
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Görkem SENGEZ
DDS, PhD, Researcher
Department of Restorative Dentist, Faculty of Dentistry
Istanbul University
Istanbul, Turkey
CV
Görkem Sengez, DDS, received her degree in dentistry in 2014 from the Istanbul University. Dr. Sengez is currently a PhD at
the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. She is a young researcher whose area of interest
includes esthetic dentistry, shade matching and laminate veneers.
Questions
1. Which one is an important factor in developing health behaviors?
qa. Family;
qb. Friends;
qc. Education;
qd. All.
2. What is the most efficient approach to ensure oral health?
qa. Toothbrushing twice a week;
qb. Consuming sugary beverages;
qc. Removing microbial plaque regularly;
qd. Smoking once a day.
3. According to the results of this study, which students brush more frequently?
qa. Medicine;
qb. Dental;
qc. Sports;
qd. Science.
4. Which one is among the most common chronic diseases globally?
qa. Sjögren Syndrome;
qb. Dental caries;
qc. Tonge cancer;
qd. Behcet’s Disease.
Stomatology Edu Journal 35