Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices of diet and nutrition on oral health among dental students

Oral health is governed by a multitude of factors and of importance among these is diet and nutrition. Patients need to be made aware of the effect diet and nutrition has on their oral health. Patients should also be encouraged to reduce the frequency of intake of sugary foods. Dentists need to have adequate knowledge regarding diet and nutrition and its effects on oral health. Dental students can be targeted at an early stage as they will be the beacons of dentistry and carry on the knowledge into private practice. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of the undergraduate dental students regarding diet and nutrition and its impact on oral health and to assess their attitude and practice towards the same. A cross sectional questionnaire based study was carried out among 203 undergraduate students (122 third BDS, 22 Final BDS and 59 Residents) from dental colleges in Davangere, Karnataka. The responses were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 22 and the tests used were Frequency distribution and Pearson Chi-Square test. Most of the participants (82.3%) were aware that sucrose is the most cariogenic sugar. 84.2% of the students knew the type of food that helps in preventing dental caries and strengthening the periodontium, yet only a few (19.2%) were able to correctly choose the most anticariogenic food among the options. While most of the students were aware of the basic knowledge of diet and nutrition and its effect on the oral health, their attitude and eagerness towards the concept should be nurtured through extensive and in detail addition of diet in the curriculum to ultimately help patients maintain a better oral hygiene and prevent oral diseases.