title: Oral health knowledge deficit: A barrier for seeking periodontal therapy? A pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In developing countries many chronic conditions including periodontitis are on the rise. Oral health attitudes and beliefs are important factors affecting oral health behavior.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this pilot study was to assess the existing knowledge about periodontal disease and its impact on treatment seeking behavior in a group of population visiting the out-patient Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, India. This study also attempted to identify deficit in the knowledge if present.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a written questionnaire based pilot study. 143 subjects (89 male and 54 female) agreed to participate in the study. Simple random sampling was used for recruitment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A written questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was given to the patients. Only one correct answer was present and the score given was + 1. The knowledge of the subjects was reflected by their ability to select a correct answer from the number of distractors (multiple choices, prespecified answers).
  
  
  METHODS
  SPSS software version 15.0 is used for all statistical analysis. The Chi-square test was employed to assess the passive knowledge of the participants in relation to their age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a deficit in the knowledge in all the topics investigated. No consistent relationship between age and gender was found. Female respondents had better knowledge about oral hygiene compared to males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We made an attempt to assess the knowledge of periodontitis among the participants of this study. Knowledge deficit was found in the population surveyed. This knowledge deficit could be one of the reasons why patients do not seek periodontal treatment routinely unless there are acute symptoms. There is urgent need to educate the patients about the periodontal disease, the need for the treatment of periodontitis and advanced treatment modalities available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hosadurga
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Vinita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boloor
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kashyap
keywords: Attitude; behavior; knowledge; oral health; periodontitis