Association of dental neglect scale and severity of dental caries among nursing students: A cross-sectional study

• Main Authors: S Athira, Chitra Girija Vallabhan, Sujith Sivarajan, C Dithi, P J Swathy Anand, Thara Chandran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2021-01-01
• Series: Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences
• Subjects: dental caries; informed consent; oral health; periodontal diseases
• Online Access: http://www.jpbsonline.org/article.asp?issn=0975-7406;year=2021;volume=13;issue=5;spage=812;epage=816;aulast=

Aims: The aim of this study is to assess the utilization of available dental services and home dental care practices in a sample of nursing students and to seek out the correlation if any, between the Dental Neglect Scale (DNS) scores and severity of dental caries. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted among 630 nursing students aged 18–21 years from the area of South Bangalore. The study was cross-sectional in design and a convenience sampling method was adopted to get the desired sample size. A prestructured questionnaire was administered to the students in their classrooms. Following this, a brief oral examination was conducted using mouth mirror and light for the detection of any visible carious lesions. Results: The dental attendance variable was found to be significantly associated with the DNS scores (P < 0.001). The DNS scores were significantly higher (P < 0.001) among those who had visible caries than those who do not. A very good correlation was obtained between scores of DNS and the caries severity (P < 0.001, r = 0.773). Conclusions: The DNS can be a very good predictor of the dental attendance pattern as well as clinically assessed severity of carious lesions.