| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2016 | Volume
: 13
| Issue : 1 | Page : 41-45 |
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Pattern of oral health practices among dental, basic and post-basic peri-operative student nurses in Benin City, Southern Nigeria
Sunny Ajimen Okeigbemen1, Joseph Nosakhare Otaren2, Felicia E Amiegheme3
1 Department of Preventive Dentistry, Community Dentistry Unit, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo, Nigeria
2 Department of Preventive Dentistry, Orthodontic Unit, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo, Nigeria
3 Department of Nursing Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
Sunny Ajimen Okeigbemen
Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo
Nigeria
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0331-8540.172147
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Objective: To evaluate the oral health practices and perception of student nurses in Benin City. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to collect the data from 1st-year students of dental nurses, basic and perioperative student nurses in Benin City. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0 with P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: One hundred and thirty questionnaires were distributed with 112 returned giving a response rate of 86.1%. The participants consisted of three categories of nurses with age range 18–48 years. The mean age of participants was 28.7 years (standard deviation [SD] ±6.80) with those of dental nurses, basic and perioperative nursing students being 23.5 years (SD ± 2.36), 25.2 years (SD ± 3.36) and 36.6 years (SD ± 4.76), respectively. About 80.4% reported always using a toothbrush and fluoride paste out of which the basic student nurses (43%) reported the highest frequency. More than half of the participants (53.6%) brushed their teeth daily, and 76.8% reported taking snacks occasionally. Furthermore, 55.4% had never visited the dentist, with 18.8% visiting within the last 6 months preceding the study and only about a fifth (19.6%) visited for a check-up and 54.5% for scaling and polishing. Furthermore, 41.1% reported having fair oral hygiene. Conclusions: Oral hygiene practices and dental attendance of the student nurses require improvement. Primary oral health should be emphasised in the nursing curriculum, with training in oral examination. |
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