Dental Health amongst Medical and Dental Undergraduates: Findings of an Observational Study from Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To evaluate dental hygiene practices and dental caries status among medical and dental undergraduates studying in public sector colleges. Materials and Methods: It was a cross sectional study which was conducted among medical and dental undergraduates. A total of 500 study subjects were chosen through a non probability convenience sampling technique. A self administered closed ended pre-tested questionnaire was distributed among participants followed by clinical examination to assess the prevalence of dental caries in them by using WHO index of dental caries. Descriptive analysis of qualitative and quantitative variables was performed. Chi square was performed to find out association between dependent and independent variables. Results: The frequency of brushing teeth among dental graduate was found more as compared to medical counterparts (66% vs. 36%, p=0.044). Majority (n=457) study subjects stated that they used dental floss for inter-dental cleaning. The mean DMFT index was found to be higher with statistically significant difference among medical undergraduates: (5.04 vs. 3.38, p=0.010); but the filled component (FT), (4.11 vs. 2.04, p=0.001), was found to be significantly higher among dental study subjects. The decayed component of medical subjects were found to be more and statistically significant as compare to their dental peers respectively (4.22±3.8 vs 2.06±2.8, p=0.001).