Oral health literacy and health behavior of primary school teachers in Babol

Background and Objective: The school is a good place to teach the basics of life skills, including health skills. Therefore, one of the ways to improve the oral health of children is to increase the oral health literacy (OHL) of teachers. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the OHL of primary school teachers in Babol, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted out on a convenience sample of 410 primary school teachers in Babol during two academic years from 2017-2018. Data were collected using adult oral health literacy questionnaire (OHL-AQ). The oral health literacy score of teachers was divided into three groups: inadequate (0-9), borderline (10-11) and adequate (17-12). T-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: 78.8% of the teachers had adequate oral health literacy. The mean oral health literacy score of teachers was 13.98 ± 2.86 with a range of 2-17. Oral health literacy was higher in female teachers and teachers with higher education (P 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between oral health literacy and age of teachers (r = -0.19; p 0.001). Teachers who assessed their oral health status as good and teachers who brushed at least once a day had higher oral health literacy. Conclusion: Oral health literacy level of more than two-thirds of primary school teachers in Babol was adequate. Female teachers, those with higher educational level, and those with well oral health behavior had higher OHL scores.