|
Global Oral Health Course: An Insight for Dental Students on Global Oral Health Issues
Khaja Amjad Hussain1, Srinivasa Prasad2, Pramod tatuskar3, Abhishekh Rathi4, Mitesh Parekh5, Shekhar grover6
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Al-Farabi College of Dentistry & Nursing, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2 Director Oral and Maxillofacial Surgen, Aswini Super Speciality Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Hospital, Vijayawada, Andra Pradesh, India
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics, College of Dental Sciences, Davangere, Karnataka, India
4 Private Practitioner, Consultant oral Surgeon, New Delhi, India
5 Reader, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Darshan Dental College and Hospital Udaipur
6 Senior Resident, Department of Community Dentistry, MAIDC, New Delhi
Correspondence Address:
Khaja Amjad Hussain
Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Al-Farabi College of Dentistry & Nursing, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
|
|
Background: Number of dental institutions has increased in the past decade but unfortunately none of them are running any global oral health course. So, present study was carried out to understand the interest of students in international volunteer opportunities, knowledge and attitudes of the students toward the global oral health issues, basic package of oral care (BPOC) and a need for a course on global oral health issues.
Materials and Methods: A questionnaire study was conducted in the final year students of Al-Farabi Dental College, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An amended version of the Global Oral Health Information Questionnaire was used with ten close ended questions. 210 students were asked to fill the questionnaires and out of which 197 responded and these were used for the data analysis.
Results: The data analysis suggested that 87.3% of the students who were surveyed showed strong interest to be volunteer as a dentist in an international platform or other developed country. 68% of the students do not have knowledge about the global oral health status. The need of information about the oral health care devices in developing and developed countries is essential to address global oral health issue was felt by 76.6% of the students. 83% of the students have no idea about the BPOC package and only 13% of the students were aware, who drafted BPOC.
Conclusion: The data analysis suggests the need of course on global oral health issues for the dental students. The results also suggest the students lack the knowledge on the global oral health status and policies of World Health Organization on global oral health issues including BPOC. Moreover, the results also depict the voluntariness of the student to work in an international setting. |
