KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES TOWARDS ORAL HEALTHCARE AMONG PATIENTS AGED 18 YEARS AND ABOVE ATTENDING THE DENTAL CLINIC AT ENTEBBE GENERAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL; A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51168/h0s79n71Keywords:
Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, Oral Healthcare, Entebbe General Referral HospitalAbstract
Introduction:
Oral healthcare is maintaining the cleanliness of the mouth and taking care of the teeth and gum. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices toward oral healthcare among patients aged 18 years in Entebbe General Referral Hospital.
Methodology:
The study employed a cross cross-sectional study design to address the specific objectives of the study on a sample of 30 respondents using the simple random technique. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed and used as a data collection tool.
Results:
From the study findings, 86% of the respondents knew about oral healthcare, 40% of the respondents reported dentists as their source of information about oral healthcare 92% went for dental checkups to dentists, 86% knew about dental caries and 68.9%gave correct responses about what the dental caries are, 92% reported that they knew the causes of dental caries and more than 60% gave the correct response about the cause of dental caries.
Conclusion:
Even though the respondents had good knowledge and positive attitudes toward oral healthcare, surprisingly they were at risk of contracting dental caries and other periodontal conditions because their oral healthcare practices were below the global recommendations and most of them used only toothbrushes to clean their teeth.
Recommendations:
The Ministry of Health should emphasize oral healthcare and dental care health education in health facilities; hospitals, camps, and community outreaches. This would at least ensure that the general public gets access to basic knowledge about oral healthcare; attitudes and practices can identify the signs and symptoms of oral health conditions as well as prevent them.
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