Awareness and attitude towards oral hygiene practices amongst medical professionals in Ahmednagar city

Background: The purpose of the study is to estimate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the oral hygiene, and dental treatment, and its correlation with everyday oral hygiene practices among the health care professionals of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted on 300 health care professionals. Two hundred health professionals were asked to answer a questionnaire containing 20questions.Data once collected was analysed. Results: 14% health professionals visited the dentist once in a year. Dental caries followed by dental pain was the main cause for making dental appointments.42%obtained information on oral hygiene practices directly from the dentist followed by 36 % who obtained it from mass media.48%brushed their teeth twice daily.48% used soft bristle tooth brush. 51 % had a brushing time of 1-3 min. 54% did not use any other oral hygiene aid .58% had never got scaling done.28% frequently had complains regarding sensitivity. Only 20% bought toothpaste for sensitivity.24% felt that scaling caused loss of enamel. Conclusion: The knowledge, attitude, and awareness of oral hygiene practices and dental treatment in health care professionals of Ahmednagar district is good. Though there is need of more awareness and knowledge regarding other oral hygiene practices and aids.