Correlation of self-esteem with oral hygiene behaviour and oral health status among adult dental patients.

Background: Self-esteem is a psychological construct that has been consistently linked to general and oral health. However, most studies interpolating self-esteem and oral health behaviour have been focused on children and adolescents, and there is a dearth of scientific literature on adults. Hence, this study, that is aimed to correlate self-esteem with oral hygiene behaviour and oral health status in Telugu-speaking adult dental patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving adult dental patients who were 35-44 years of age and visited the Government Dental Hospital in Hyderabad city, India, was conducted. Self-esteem was assessed using the Telugu-translated version of the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, oral health behaviour was determined using the Oral Hygiene Behaviour Index and oral health assessment was performed using the World Health Organization Dentition status, the modified Community Periodontal Index and the Loss of Attachment. Results: A total of 456 patients were included in this study. Most of the participants reported low self-esteem, with a mean score of 11.8 ± 2.7. Patients with primary school education reported higher self-esteem scores than those with high school and university education (p = 0.0001). Furthermore, low Oral Hygiene Behaviour Index scores (64.9%) in the study population and high Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth scores in females (5.7 ± 4.4; p = 0.09) were noted. None of the variables (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth scores, Oral Hygiene Behaviour, gingival bleeding and Loss of Attachment) were significantly correlated with self-esteem. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that younger age, lower educational level and presence of dental caries resulted in higher odds for high self-esteem (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The findings indicated a significant association between self-esteem and oral health. Indivi-duals with dental caries had significantly higher odds for high self-esteem. Thus, this study emphasises the relevance of psychosocial factors, such as self-esteem, as the mediator of oral health.

Psychometric properties of the Telugu version of Rosenberg Self-esteem scale (RSES-T).

Background: The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES) is the most commonly used tool for measuring global self-esteem. Till date, RSES has been translated into different languages and the reports are good for their validity and reliability. Telugu being the fourth most spoken language in India, it is timely to translate and validate the Telugu version of RSES. The aim of this study thus is to assess the psychometric properties of the Telugu version of Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES-T). Study design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This study was carried out to assess the psychometric properties of RSES-T among undergraduate students of a dental college. For this purpose, the English version of RSES was translated into Telugu and was administered to the participants along with the revised English version of Self-Liking/Self-Competence Scale (SL/SC-R) to evaluate the construct validity. The internal consistency of RSES-T was assessed using Cronbach´s α and the temporal stability was tested by test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the underlying dimensional structure of the questionnaire by assessing the cor-relation of RSES-T with SL/SC-R. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a positive one-factor structure with Model 3 showing the best fit to data. Internal consistency for RSES-T was found to be good with Cronbach's α of 0.82 at follow-up and the test-retest reliability was found to be satisfactory (0.42) after a two weeks' interval. Furthermore, the item-wise mean score differences showed higher scores for male students than females. Likewise, the item-total correlation of RSES-T showed positive correlation with scores varying from 0.17 to 0.69 at the follow-up. Conclusion: The Telugu version of RSES exhibited a unidimensional structure and showed good psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, construct validity and reliability. Hence, these findings provide empirical support to evaluate global self-esteem among Telugu speaking population in future.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices and motivation to quit tobacco habits in relation to age and educational status among male tobacco users visiting a Government Dental College Hospital, India.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use has become an epidemic of modern times. Its use is widespread among young adults and those from lower socioeconomic classes. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) and motivation to quit tobacco habits in relation to age and educational status among male tobacco users visiting a Government Dental College Hospital, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a questionnaire survey conducted among 199 male adult smokers visiting the Department of Public Health Dentistry in a Government Dental College in India. Quota sampling was used for recruiting the required number of study participants. Information on KAP related to smoking habits was collected using a predesigned structured questionnaire by two trained and calibrated dentists. Knowledge, attitude toward quitting and their self-confidence toward quitting was compared in relation to age and educational status using Chi-square test. RESULTS: A higher percentage of younger adults aged 18-24 years were interested in quitting the habit (100%) compared to those aged 45-64 years (85.2%). Similarly, a higher percentage of young adults have tried quitting the habit (76.9%) compared to their older counterparts (64.8%) (P < 0.05). Knowledge on ill effects of smoking increased with increasing educational attainment (P < 0.001). People with higher educational attainment had observed the warning sign on packaging (73.7%) compared to those with less than primary education (25.9%) and they also reported that the presence of such warning sign motivated them to think about quitting (54.8% vs. 0%) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Knowledge, positive attitude toward quitting and self-confidence to quit were higher among younger adults and those with secondary education compared to their elder counterparts and those with less than primary education.

Oral Health Status among 12- and 15-Year-Old Children from Government and Private Schools in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: The assessment of oral health status of children in government and private schools provide data on the oral health status of children from different socio-economic background. AIM: The aim of the following study is to assess and to compare the oral hygiene status, gingival status and caries experience between children from government and private schools in Andhra Pradesh, India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A combination of cluster and stratified random sampling was employed to select the study participants. Oral hygiene status, gingival status and caries experience was assessed and compared among 12- and 15-year-old children from three government and private schools each. The examination was carried out by three trained and calibrated investigators using a mouth mirror and explorer under natural daylight. RESULTS: A total of 604 children (331 government and 273 private) were examined in the study. The mean oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S) was higher among government school children (2.9 [1.1]) compared private school children (0.6 [0.4]). The mean gingival score and mean decayed missing filled teeth were also higher among government school children compared with private school children. A significantly higher number of children in the government schools had poor oral hygiene status, moderate to severe gingivitis and caries experience. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of oral diseases was relatively less among children from private schools in comparison with those from government schools. Hence, the children from government schools should be given the priority compared with private school children in any school dental health programs planned on a statewide basis.

Dental Fluorosis and Dental Caries Prevalence among 12 and 15-Year-Old School Children in Nalgonda District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Fluoride is a double edged sword. The assessment of dental caries and fluorosis in endemic fluoride areas will facilitate in assessing the relation between fluoride concentrations in water with dental caries, dental fluorosis simultaneously. AIM: The objective of the following study is to assess the dental caries and dental fluorosis prevalence among 12 and 15-year-old school children in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Two stage cluster sampling technique was employed to select 20 schools from Nalgonda district. The oral examination of available 12 and 15-year-old children fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria was carried out to assess dental caries and fluorosis. The examination was conducted by a single trained and calibrated examiner using the mouth mirror and community periodontal index probe under natural daylight. These areas were divided into four categories, low, medium, high and very high fluoride areas based on the fluoride concentration at the time of statistical analysis. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16 (IBM, Chicago, USA). RESULTS: The caries prevalence was less among 12-year-old children (39.9% [369/924]) compared with 15-years-old children (46.7% [444/951]). The prevalence was more among females (50.4% [492/977]) than males (35.8% [321/898]). The prevalence was more in low fluoride area (60.5% [300/496]) followed by very high fluoride area (54.8% [201/367]), high fluoride area (32.4% [293/904]) and medium fluoride area (17.6% [19/108]) in the descending order. The fluorosis prevalence increased with increasing fluoride concentration with no difference in gender and age distribution. CONCLUSION: Low fluoride areas require fluoridation or alternate sources of fluoride, whereas high fluoride areas require defluoridation. Defluoridation of water is an immediate requirement in areas with fluoride concentration of 4 parts per million and above as dental fluorosis is a public health problem in these areas with 100% prevalence.