Oral health knowledge and psychological determinants of oral health behavior of nursing students

This survey examined the oral health knowledge and psychological determinants of oral health behavior of 1019 undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students. Overall, most of the students perceived their oral health to be average, and their flossing and dental visiting frequencies were inadequate. Moreover, the students’ oral health knowledge was suboptimal, regardless of the type of study, and it was not significantly associated with oral health behavior. Binary logistic regression showed that toothbrushing self-efficacy and the type of study were both significantly associated with toothbrushing behavior. Furthermore, flossing self-efficacy and dental visiting self-efficacy were both significantly associated with flossing and dental visiting behaviors, respectively.