Kango, Hafsa, Jha, Neelu Anand, Masoodi, Parvaiz, Naz, Aliya
and Chowdhury, Abhiroop
(2025)
Oral health and hygiene practices from Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, India: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional observational survey.
Healthcare, 13 (5).
p. 458.
ISSN 2227-9032
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Oral hygiene practices are important for good oral health and overall well-being. In this study, we surveyed people across age groups and genders to understand the oral hygiene practices of Baramulla district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Methods: 488 participants—229 males and 259 females—were randomly interviewed through a structured 20-item questionnaire. A chi-square test was used to analyze the age and gender-specific associations in oral hygiene behaviors. Results: The study revealed that majority of participants brushed their teeth only once a day instead of the recommended twice a day; only young cohorts showed relatively higher practice of brushing twice daily. A significantly higher proportion of males (11.69%) rarely brushed their teeth compared to females (4.28%). Tongue cleaning was poorly reported across age and genders and more than 60% of respondents did not clean their tongue at all. Almost 75% and above had made dental visits at least once. However, the visits were made primarily in cases of pain and sensitivity, indicating negligence, financial issues, or a general lack of awareness. The younger cohorts reported eating fast food more frequently, indicating risk groups. The majority of male respondents (45.88%) reported fair oral health whereas the majority of female respondents (35.29%) reported poor overall oral health. Conclusions: Our results show that oral hygiene practices need more improvement, and the attitude and knowledge of the residents need to be ameliorated through oral health education policy interventions.
Item Type: | Article |
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Keywords: | oral health | oral hygiene practices | oral diseases | Jammu and Kashmir |
Subjects: | Physical, Life and Health Sciences > Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Social Sciences (General) |
JGU School/Centre: | Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability |
Depositing User: | Dharmveer Modi |
Date Deposited: | 05 Mar 2025 16:22 |
Last Modified: | 06 Mar 2025 16:40 |
Official URL: | https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050458 |
URI: | https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/9213 |
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