title: Knowledge, attitude and practice of school teachers towards oral health in pondicherry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  School teachers by virtue of their training can influence a large number of children thereby play major role in the planning and implementation of oral health preventive programs. Hence, this study was undertaken with the objective of assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of school teachers towards oral health.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional survey conducted among school teachers of the city of Pondicherry. A structured questionnaire was used and 212 teachers were assessed on their knowledge on oral health, attitude and practice regarding their personal oral health, attitude regarding oral health of children and status of oral health education at the schools. All data collected was entered into SPSS version 21.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Around 47% of the participants felt that bacteria and sugar are the main causes of dental caries, while 42% felt that plaque and calculus are the main agents for periodontal disease. Around 82.5% teachers brushed twice daily. However, only 32% felt it is necessary to visit dentist regularly. While 86% of the teachers felt that children's teeth should be checked by dentist, only 51% agreed that it is their duty to impart oral health education to the students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge regarding oral health among school teachers was fair. Oral Health education must be imparted to preschool and primary school teachers as a part of National Oral Health care Program on a regular basis and further studies must be done to assess their awareness levels and make the necessary changes in further education modules.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital , Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sekhar
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital , Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Sivsankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: P
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, Thai Moogambigai Dental College , Chennai, India .
authors.forename: Easwaran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: M A
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, JIPMER , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Subitha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: L
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital , Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Bharath
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: N
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Adhiparasakthi Dental College and Hospital , Tamil Nadu, India .
authors.forename: Rajeswary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: K
authors.affiliation: Director General, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Govt of India New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Jeyalakshmi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: S
keywords: Attitude; Knowledge; Oral health education; Practice; School teachers