Abstract
Oral health is an essential component of general health and well-being at every stage of life. Factors such as, culture, behaviour, gender, economics, state, etc. influence our oral condition. The present study has been designed to compare and assess the oral health status, and determine the factors that influence oral health among Chinese and Indian students, so as to identify the relationship between oral health status of Indian and Chinese students with selected variables. The study was performed in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Central Institute of Hindi, New Delhi with a comparative survey design. 60 students (30 Chinese and 30 Indians) were selected by convenience sampling technique. The tool was structured Oral Health Assessment Questionnaire and the collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This study determined that the mean oral health status score in Chinese group (2.733) was higher than the Indian group (2.5) with a mean difference of 0.233. For the factors influencing oral health status among two groups, the p value were calculated on frequency of cleaning teeth (p<=0.001), the utilization of dental services i.e. their reason for a visit to the dentist (p=0.036), dietary practices, i.e. every day usage of food with sugar (p=0.03) and alcohol (p=0.002). The p value on relationship between oral health status of two groups and their course of study was found to be 0.023. The difference in the oral health status between Chinese and Indian students was found to be not significant. However, for the factors, there were significant difference among two groups related to frequency of cleaning teeth, the reason for a visit to the dentist, every day usage of food with sugar and usage of alcohol. There was a significant association between oral health status of two groups and course of study as well.
Keywords: dental hygiene practices, dietary practices, factors influencing oral health, oral health status
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