• Users Online: 852
  • Home
  • Print this page
  • Email this page
Home About us Editorial board Ahead of print Current issue Search Archives Submit article Instructions Subscribe Contacts Login 


 
 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2017  |  Volume : 2  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 48-50

A survey of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disclosing agents among dental students: A prospective study


Department of Prosthodontics, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Web Publication1-Feb-2018

Correspondence Address:
M Namrata
Saveetha Dental College, Chennai - 600 077, Tamil Nadu
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/ijofr.ijofr_23_17

Rights and Permissions
  Abstract 


Aim: This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disclosing solution among dental students using a questionnaire survey. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted among 200 undergraduate dental students. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of questions regarding students opinions, viewpoints, and recommendations about disclosing agents. Results: About 80% of the students were aware of the indications for disclosing agents; however, when asked about the types of disclosing agents available, only 27% of the students were aware. Regarding the methods of using disclosing agents, only 21% of students had knowledge about it. Majority of students were not aware of the commercially available brands (90%), recent advances (97), and side effects (98%) of disclosing agents. In this study, it was found that 33% of students were aware of importance of using disclosing agents at home and in dental practice, and 10% of students prescribed it while the majority of students (90%) failed to do so. Conclusion: Despite having theoretical knowledge, most of students do not give importance to use of disclosing agents in proper oral hygiene maintenance in patients. As dental professionals, students must take responsibility of their patient's health even after treatment. Students should update themselves about new materials available in the market to create the oral hygiene practice efficient among the patients.

Keywords: Disclosing agents, oral health, plaque control


How to cite this article:
Namrata M, Ashok NG, Ganapathy D. A survey of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disclosing agents among dental students: A prospective study. Int J Orofac Res 2017;2:48-50

How to cite this URL:
Namrata M, Ashok NG, Ganapathy D. A survey of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward disclosing agents among dental students: A prospective study. Int J Orofac Res [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 29];2:48-50. Available from: https://www.ijofr.org/text.asp?2017/2/2/48/224500


  Introduction Top


Dental plaque removal is important in oral health maintenance as plaque deposition brings about the inflammatory changes on the periodontium leading to the destruction of tissues and can also cause dental caries in the long run.[1] Dental plaque is usually transparent and colorless and not easily visible; hence, an individual usually is not aware of the quantity or the location of dental plaque present in their mouth. A disclosing agent is a selective dye in solution, tablet, or lozenge form used to visualize and identify dental biofilm on the surfaces of the teeth;[2] the use of disclosing agents motivates a person in the early removal of dental plaque by showing the presence and quantity of plaque.[3] Amim [4],[5] had played an important role in popularizing the use of disclosing agents, and according to Raybin,[6] disclosing agents were bound to revolutionize the home care regimen. The behavior of oral health providers and their attitudes toward their own oral health reflect their understanding of the importance of preventive dental procedures and improving the oral health of their patients.[7] Hence, this study aims at evaluating the knowledge, attitude, and practice among dental students regarding disclosing agents.


  Materials and Methods Top


This questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 undergraduate dental students in Chennai. Permission and ethical clearance were obtained from the concerned authorities of the college. Since it was a questionnaire-based study and no invasive procedure was carried out, verbal consent was taken from the participants. A questionnaire consisting of questions such as awareness, knowledge, opinions, viewpoints, and recommendations about disclosing agents was given to the students and data were collected.


  Results Top


A total of 200 students studying in final year and interns were reviewed in this study. Among them, 50% were final years and 50% were interns. About 80% of the students were aware of the indications for disclosing agents; however, when asked about the types of disclosing agents available, only 27% of the students were aware and majority (73%) were not aware. Regarding the methods of using disclosing agents, only 21% of students had knowledge about it. About 79% of students lacked knowledge about the composition of disclosing agents and majority of the students (95%) were not aware of the dosage of disclosing agents to be prescribed. Majority of students (90%) were not aware about the commercially available brands of disclosing agents. Regarding awareness about recent advances in disclosing agents, 3% of students suggested photodynamic therapy while the majority (97%) had no knowledge about it. When asked about side effects of disclosing agents, about 2% of students suggested staining of restorations while 98% of students were not aware of it. In this study, it was found that 33% of students were aware of the importance of using disclosing agents at home and in dental practice, and 10% of students prescribed it while the majority of students (90%) failed to do so.


  Discussion Top


In this survey, viewpoints and preferences of 200 students regarding the knowledge of disclosing agents and their recommendations to the patients were investigated. Due to lack of studies about oral health attitudes and knowledge about disclosing agents among dental students in Chennai, this study is of prime importance in this field. The results obtained from this study showed that majority of the students (67%) lack knowledge about dental health care which is similar to a study done by Al-Wahadni et al.[8] and Petersen et al.[9] who reported that education about dental health care in the preuniversity curriculum could be an important factor that can influence the oral health attitudes of students entering dental field. In this study, it was found that 33% of students were aware of importance of using disclosing agents at home and in dental practice, and 10% of students prescribed it while the majority of students (90%) failed to do so, whereas in a recent study [10] done on dentists, it was found that 62% use disclosing agent to motivate the patient and 38% do not use disclosing agent. Similar studies done on dental students regarding disclosing agents in UAE [11] and Greece [12] showed that 91.1% and 67%, respectively, recommended using disclosing agents which is in contrast to the results obtained in our study (10%), but similar to the results obtained in a study done in Jordan [13] which is 21%. In this study, survey of students' awareness about brands, side effects, and recent advances in disclosing agents was done. It reveals that only 10% of students were aware about commercially available brands of disclosing agents in the market, 2% were aware about side effects, and only 3% were aware about recent advances of disclosing agents. This shows students' lack of knowledge and negligence in updating their knowledge of disclosing agents and oral health maintenance continuously.


  Conclusion Top


Based on this study, it was concluded that most of the students lacked knowledge about disclosing agents and rest of the students despite having theoretical knowledge do not give importance to use of disclosing agents in proper oral hygiene maintenance in patients. As dental professional students must take responsibility of their patients' health even after treatment. It is very rare to find any patient without even mild plaque present in his/her oral cavity, yet since long, disclosing agent has proved to be a good adjunct for the patients' maintenance care. Disclosing agents are available in various forms such as solutions, wafers, and mouth rinses. Recently, a study [14] was done to find the efficacy of using disclosing agents with photodynamic therapy to kill the bacteria present in plaque and biofilm. Three-tone plaque disclosing agent has been recently found to be effective in identifying pathological plaque.[15] Thus, students should update themselves about new materials available in the market to create the oral hygiene practice efficient among the patients.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

 
  References Top

1.
Sharma S. Plaque disclosing agent – A review. J Adv Dent Res 2010;2:1-3.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Wilkins EM. Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist. 10th ed. 1989; USA: Lea and Febiger. p. 388-91.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Skaggs JM, Dckson RE, Bowers JH, Tavss EA. Plaque Disclosing Composition.USA: United States Patent; 1991.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Amim SS. Thoughts concerning pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of periodontal disease. J Periodontol 1958;29:217-23.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Amim SS. The use of disclosing agents for measuring tooth cleanliness. J Periodontol 1963;34:227-45.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6.
Raybin M. Disclosing solutions. Dent Items Interest 1945;67:235-43.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Peker I, Alkurt MT. Oral health attitudes and behavior among a group of Turkish dental students. Eur J Dent 2009;3:24-31.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Al-Wahadni AM, Al-Omiri MK, Kawamura M. Differences in self-reported oral health behavior between dental students and dental technology/dental hygiene students in Jordan. J Oral Sci 2004;46:191-7.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Petersen PE, Peng B, Tai B, Bian Z, Fan M. Effect of a school-based oral health education programme in Wuhan city, Peoples Republic of China. Int Dent J 2004;54:33-41.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10.
Balabaskaran K, Ramamurthy JG. Assessment of knowledge of oral hygiene aids among dentists. IOSR J Dent Med Sci 2013;10:60-4.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Rahman B, Kawas SA. The relationship between dental health behavior, oral hygiene and gingival status of dental students in the United Arab Emirates. Eur J Dent 2013;7:22-7.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12.
Polychronopoulou A, Kawamura M, Athanasouli T. Oral self-care behavior among dental school students in Greece. J Oral Sci 2002;44:73-8.  Back to cited text no. 12
    
13.
Barrieshi-Nusair K, Alomari Q, Said K. Dental health attitudes and behaviour among dental students in Jordan. Community Dent Health 2006;23:147-51.  Back to cited text no. 13
    
14.
Ishiyama K, Nakamura K, Ikai H, Kanno T, Kohno M, Sasaki K, et al. Bactericidal action of photogenerated singlet oxygen from photosensitizers used in plaque disclosing agents. PLoS One 2012;7:e37871.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
15.
Jayanthi M, Shilpapriya M, Reddy VN, Elangovan A, Sakthivel R, Vijayakumar P, et al. Efficacy of three-tone disclosing agent as an adjunct in caries risk assessment. Contemp Clin Dent 2015;6:358-63.  Back to cited text no. 15
[PUBMED]  [Full text]  




 

Top
 
 
  Search
 
Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
Access Statistics
Email Alert *
Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)

 
  In this article
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Me...
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed9057    
    Printed853    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded721    
    Comments [Add]    

Recommend this journal


[TAG2]
[TAG3]
[TAG4]