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Oral Hygiene Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Junior High School Students in Harar, Ethiopia

Arif Hussen Jamie, Elias Sertse Gebremedhin

Abstract


Introduction: Oral health refers to a condition where an individual is not experiencing chronic pain in the mouth and face, is not afflicted by conditions like oral and throat cancer, oral infections, sores, periodontal disease, tooth decay, or tooth loss, and is not suffering from other diseases and disorders that hinder their ability to bite, chew, smile, speak, and impact their overall psychological and social well-being. Methods and materials: From September 20 to September 30, 2023, institution-based cross-sectional research was conducted at the junior high school in Harar, Ethiopia. The total sample size was 373, and a simple random sampling method was employed. The data were entered analyzed using SPSS 24. The Harar Health Science College Ethics and Research Committee approved the study. The confidentiality of the study's data has been upheld throughout. Result: The current study showed that 37.66% of students had good knowledge of oral hygiene. Likewise, approximately 50% of the students displayed a favorable attitude regarding oral hygiene, and about 55.59% of the students were observed to engage in proper oral hygiene practices. Conclusion: The knowledge of the students toward oral health is very low, whereas the attitude and practice toward oral hygiene is average. Our suggestion is to incorporate and prioritize oral health education within curricula, and it is advisable to conduct further research with larger sample sizes and more rigorous analytical approaches.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37628/ijpn.v9i2.2375

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