Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Objective: The study was planned to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding oral health among orthodontic and non-orthodontic patients. Methods: The study included 350 participants (150 orthodontic and 200 non-orthodontic patients). A self-administered structured questionnaire was prepared including 17 items to recognize the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding oral health care. Pearson’s correlation was applied to evaluate the relation of oral health KAP. Results: The study showed that patients having orthodontic therapy had comparatively healthy habits as 95.7% brushed once and 66.3% did it twice in a day. However 72.5% of non orthodontic patients brush once daily and 25.8% brush twice a day. The usage of dental floss was less in all the patients and rarely non orthodontic patients clean their teeth with interdental brushes. The mean knowledge and attitude scores among orthodontic patients were significantly higher when compared to non orthodontic patients. A positive correlation was found between knowledge, attitude, and practices using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Conclusion: It was noticed that oral health awareness was more among orthodontic patients as they are more frequently visiting the dentist.
Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Practices, Orthodontic patients, Oral health.