Oral health knowledge and sources of information among male secondary school children in Riyadh

The aim of the present study was to determine the oral health knowledge and sources of information in male secondary school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The information on oral health knowledge and sources of information was collected through a specially designed self-administered questionnaire. A total of 605 randomly selected male secondary school children from six schools completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the children was 17.0 years (SD 1.4, range 15 to 21 years). A great majority (91.4%) of the children was aware that good dental health is important for good general health. Majority (60.5%) of the children correctly thought that teeth should be cleaned after each meal, however, more than one-fourth (28.4%) of the children reported that no one taught them how to clean their teeth. More than one-third (39.5%) of children thought that one must visit a dentist only in case ofpain in the teeth. A great majority (94.5%) of the children knew that sweets (chocolates/candies) could cause tooth decay. However, 40.2% of children were not aware of cariogenic potential of soft drinks. A high percentage (80.4%) of children knew that the best way to maintain optimum gingival health was to clean their teeth daily. Dentists were the most popular (34.2%) source of oral health information followed by media (32.2%) and parents/grandparents (23.8%). Only 1.8% children reported their teachers as source of oral health information. It could be concluded that these school children need further oral health information, and that there is a need to reinforce the role of school teachers in enhancing school children’s oral health knowledge.