A Study on the Influence of Attendance and Types of Dental Clinics for the Development of Dental Caries in Young Adults

Abstract

Oral hygiene is defined as the practice of keeping the mouth, teeth, and gums clean and healthy. As poor oral hygiene contributes to the occurrence of dental cavities, regular dental checkups and treatments are essential to maintain good oral hygiene. The present study investigated how frequency of attending dental check-ups and types of dental clinics affect for the development of dental caries. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out using convenient sampling among individuals belonging to the young adult population (age group 18 – 35) who have access to internet facilities in Sri Lanka by distributing a pre-tested self-administrated questionnaire through social media. Data on diagnosis, treatment of dental cavities and attendance to dental clinics, types of dental clinics were analysed using SPSS version 25. Out of the 442-sample population, 18.32% of individuals had attended a dental clinic more than one year before the study, 20.81% attended a dental clinic during the one year of the study and 7.2% had never visited a dental clinic. A significant association (p= 0.000) was found between attendance at dental clinics and diagnosis of dental cavities within the past five years. Also, there was a significant association (p= 0.013) between the diagnosis of dental cavities and the type of dental clinic attended. Therefore, our study concludes that regular attendance for dental check-ups plays an important role in the maintenance of cavity-free teeth and gums.