Table 3.
Oral health knowledge of dental and medical students in 1st and 3rd year (%)a
| Question | 1st year | 3rd year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dental students | Medical students | P | Dental students | Medical students | P | |
| Causes of dental caries | ||||||
| Toothpaste without fluoride | 10.0 | 16.4 | 0.062 | 15.5 | 13.9 | 0.657 |
| Frequent ingestion of sugar | 52.6 | 55.2 | 0.607 | 60.2 | 55.9 | 0.397 |
| Dysbiosis of oral microflora | 30.5 | 26.9 | 0.424 | 58.6 | 41.1 | 0.001 |
| Inadequate tooth brushing | 41.6 | 41.3 | 0.954 | 52.5 | 40.6 | 0.020 |
| Don’t know | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0.151 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 0.903 |
| Causes of bleeding during tooth brushing | ||||||
| Natural physiological phenomenon | 7.4 | 6.5 | 0.726 | 3.3 | 8.9 | 0.024 |
| Periodontal disease | 35.3 | 36.3 | 0.828 | 79.0 | 47.0 | 0.000 |
| Brushing too hard | 37.4 | 35.3 | 0.674 | 33.7 | 38.6 | 0.318 |
| Excessive internal heatb | 38.9 | 53.7 | 0.003 | 36.5 | 37.1 | 0.893 |
| Systemic disease | 4.2 | 2.5 | 0.342 | 23.8 | 20.3 | 0.414 |
| Don’t know | 3.2 | 2.0 | 0.681 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 0.359 |
| Influence of dental plaque | ||||||
| Affecting appearance | 36.3 | 40.8 | 0.363 | 45.9 | 37.1 | 0.083 |
| Inducing dental caries | 22.6 | 38.8 | 0.001 | 59.7 | 35.6 | 0.000 |
| Inducing periodontal disease | 67.4 | 51.2 | 0.001 | 79.6 | 61.9 | 0.000 |
| No big deal | 3.7 | 2.0 | 0.311 | 1.1 | 9.9 | 0.000 |
| Don’t know | 6.8 | 5.5 | 0.573 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.611 |
| Measures that prevent oral diseases | ||||||
| Application of fluoride | 50.5 | 13.9 | 0.000 | 66.9 | 23.3 | 0.000 |
| Pit and fissure sealing | 72.6 | 16.9 | 0.000 | 84.5 | 25.7 | 0.000 |
| Tooth scaling | 86.3 | 90.5 | 0.190 | 97.8 | 91.6 | 0.008 |
| Don’t know | 2.6 | 3.0 | 0.833 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.000 |
| Systemic diseases that may be related to oral diseases | ||||||
| Heart disease | 31.6 | 10.9 | 0.000 | 56.9 | 29.2 | 0.000 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 34.7 | 13.9 | 0.009 | 83.4 | 43.6 | 0.000 |
| Hypertension | 21.6 | 11.4 | 0.007 | 57.5 | 26.7 | 0.000 |
| Cancer | 32.1 | 19.4 | 0.004 | 60.8 | 34.7 | 0.000 |
| None of the above | 8.9 | 19.9 | 0.002 | 3.3 | 10.9 | 0.004 |
| Other diseases | 21.1 | 47.3 | 0.000 | 30.4 | 23.8 | 0.144 |
| Don’t know | 11.6 | 2.0 | 0.000 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 0.437 |
| Which is more important for oral health: self-administration or dentist? | ||||||
| Self-administration of oral hygiene | 48.9 | 49.3 | 0.952 | 40.3 | 55.9 | 0.002 |
| Regular visit to dentist | 51.1 | 50.7 | 59.7 | 44.1 | ||
aPearson’s Chi-square test, bold numbers meant P < 0.05
bExcessive internal heat: a concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). People with excessive internal heat would have an increased risk of inflammation, sore throat, oral ulcer, acne, etc