Oral Health and Hygiene Practices from Baramulla District, Jammu and Kashmir, India: A Questionnaire-Based Cross-Sectional Observational Survey.

Background/

Objectives

Oral hygiene practices are important for good oral health and overall well-being. In this study, we surveyed people across age groups and genders to understand the oral hygiene practices of Baramulla district of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Methods

488 participants-229 males and 259 females-were randomly interviewed through a structured 20-item questionnaire. A chi-square test was used to analyze the age and gender-specific associations in oral hygiene behaviors.

Results

The study revealed that majority of participants brushed their teeth only once a day instead of the recommended twice a day; only young cohorts showed relatively higher practice of brushing twice daily. A significantly higher proportion of males (11.69%) rarely brushed their teeth compared to females (4.28%). Tongue cleaning was poorly reported across age and genders and more than 60% of respondents did not clean their tongue at all. Almost 75% and above had made dental visits at least once. However, the visits were made primarily in cases of pain and sensitivity, indicating negligence, financial issues, or a general lack of awareness. The younger cohorts reported eating fast food more frequently, indicating risk groups. The majority of male respondents (45.88%) reported fair oral health whereas the majority of female respondents (35.29%) reported poor overall oral health.

Conclusions

Our results show that oral hygiene practices need more improvement, and the attitude and knowledge of the residents need to be ameliorated through oral health education policy interventions.