RESUMO
Background: To pursue further education in a particular specialty of dentistry, it is important for dental students to be aware of the "expectation" associated with any specific specialty in dentistry. Therefore students 'attitudes' towards 'expectations' of various specialties, to a large extent enables a meaningful understanding that facilitates appropriate planning in the dental sector for the community. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted, which included, final year and dental interns studying in two dental institutions, in the State of Puducherry. It consisted of 27 questions that were graded using 5-point Likert scale. The responses for the attitude questions toward selecting Public Health Dentistry for post-graduation were categorized into three factors, negative attitude (includes score 0-21), neutral attitude (score 22-44), and positive attitude (score 45-64). Differences between groups were examined using t-test for proportions. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Among 221 respondents, 73 (33.0) were males and 148 (67.0) females. About (52.2%) of the respondents had positive attitude toward selecting Public Health Dentistry as their future career and (76.7%) had neutral attitude, around (5 %) had negative attitude towards the speciality for pursuing post-graduation in both the two institutions. Conclusion: Our study could highlight many factors namely gender, year of study etc which influence the attitude of students for selecting PHD as career choice. These specific factors could be kept in mind while course planning for government or private institutions so that maximum interest can be fetched among students.
RESUMO
Background: Gypsy "Narikuravars" constituted separate sociocultural groups having distinct cultures, customs, traditions, and lifestyles. Oral health-seeking behavior of this group remains to be an ignored part. This study aims to assess the oral hygiene practices and knowledge on periodontal diseases and therapy among Gypsy Narikuravars in Puducherry. Materials and Methods: The total study population consisted of 100 subjects, and a performed validated pro forma about oral hygiene practices and knowledge on periodontal diseases was used. Results: There is no significant association between sociodemographic factors and knowledge on periodontal disease and therapy. Majority (90%) of the participants have poor knowledge of periodontal disease and therapy. 56% of the participants used their fingers to clean the teeth, and very few subjects (13%) used toothbrush to clean their teeth, and most of the participants (92%) brushes once daily using manual method. Conclusion: The practice of poor oral hygiene and lack of knowledge on periodontal disease and therapy was observed. Hence, the implementation of oral health programs and provision of comprehensive health services for these Gypsy population should be a high priority.