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CC BY 4.0 · European Journal of General Dentistry
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779049
Original Article

Oral Health Awareness and Oral Hygiene Practices among Married Women of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Syed Akhtar Hussain Bokhari 
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Suresh Sanikommu
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Abdullah BuHulayqah
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Hussain Al-Momen
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Abdullah Al-Zuriq
1   Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Zohaib Khurshid 
2   Department of Prosthodontics and Implantology, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
› Author Affiliations Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Abstract

Objective Awareness of mothers about oral health and their oral hygiene practices may benefit both maternal and infant oral health. This study assessed the oral health awareness and oral hygiene practices among married females.

Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 430 females using a self-administered close-ended questionnaire that was distributed through WhatsApp application. Chi-squared test and t-test were applied with significance level of p-value less than or equal to 0.05.

Results Three hundred and fifty-six females responded to the survey. Ninety percent women brushed their teeth daily, 52% used dental floss, and 58% used mouthwash. Seventy-nine percent patients visited a dentist when had a dental problem. Females more than or equal 75% think that dentist visit is important or consider it safe and 34% had visited the dentist during pregnancy. Sixty-eight percent women think that incidence of oral disease increases during pregnancy, and 42% agreed that oral disease affect the baby's oral health. Sixty-seven percent were aware that women could develop pregnancy gingivitis and 8% think that poor oral health can lead to birth of premature baby. Mothers with less than or equal to 10 years of married life have shown significantly (≤0.04) higher knowledge and good oral hygiene practices than other older mothers. Regression analysis showed a significant (p ≤ 0.035) relationship between incidence of oral disease in pregnancy with married life years; effect of oral disease on baby' health with age and occupation; use of dental floss with income and living area; knowledge of pregnancy gingivitis with number of children; effect of bad oral hygiene on pregnancy outcome with income; and dentist visit during pregnancy with married life years.

Conclusion Females with higher education, less years of married life, and higher number of children were better aware of oral health and oral hygiene practices and its effect on their baby's oral health.

Keywords

oral health - oral hygiene practices - women - children - married life

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval was obtained from Deanship of Research, King Faisal University vide # KFU-REC-2022-FEB-EA000462 on 15–02–22.


Authors' Contributions

S.A.H.B. conceived the study, wrote initial and final draft preparation; A.B., H.A.M., A.A.Z., and S.S. collected and managed data analysis; S.S. prepared results; Z.K. reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors have critically reviewed the manuscript and agreed to submitted version of the manuscript and are responsible for similarity index of the manuscript.


Data Availability Statement

Data are available upon request.




Publication History

Article published online:
25 April 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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