title: Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Behaviour among Secondary School Children in Chandigarh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral health knowledge is considered to be an essential prerequisite for health-related practices and better oral health. Healthy practices adopted at young age are more sustainable.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Present cross-sectional exploratory study was planned to assess oral health knowledge and practices of secondary school students in Chandigarh, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was under-taken amongst 1027 secondary level school students, in Chandigarh, India. After obtaining informed consent subjects were administered pretested self administered questionnaire addressing demographics, knowledge, attitude and practice behaviour of participants. Frequency analysis was done using descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survey revealed that only 40% subjects brushed twice daily. About 17% reported use of dental floss and 20% used either mouthwash or tongue cleaner as adjuncts. A total of 58% had knowledge that infrequent brushing led to dental caries, staining of teeth, dental plaque and bleeding from gums. Most of them knew sweets (92.7%) and soft drinks (67.8%) affected dental health. Only 12.9% visited dentist regularly after every 6-12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Efficacy of dental health education can be increased only if health programs are tailored to directly impinge on attitudes of targeted population, especially school children in whom healthy practices can be inculcated easily and be sustained for long times.
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implanatology, SGT Dental College , Gurugarm, Haryana, India .
authors.forename: Anshu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blaggana
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implanatology, Dr. H. S. J. Institute of Dental Sciences, Punjab University , Chandigarh, Panjab, India .
authors.forename: Vishaka
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.affiliation: Student, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implanatology, S.G.R.D Institute of Dental Sciences , Amritsar, Punjab, India .
authors.lastname: Anjali
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Periodontology, Sri Sukhmani Dental College and Hospital , Dera Bassi, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Anoop
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implanatology, Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital , Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India .
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Blaggana
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SGT Dental College , Gurugarm, Haryana, India .
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tanwar
authors.affiliation: PG Student, Department of Periodontology and Oral Implanatology, National Dental College and Hospital , Dera Bassi, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Harleen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.affiliation: Assistant Editor, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research , New Delhi, India .
authors.forename: Ryana Kaur
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Haneet
keywords: Dental health; Education; Questionnaire; Survey