Oral Health Practices among Secondary School Students in Udi Local Government Area, Enugu State

Abstract

Oral health is a key indicator of overall health of an individual. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of oral health practices among secondary school students in Udi local government area of Enugu State. To achieve this purpose, two objectives with two corresponding research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study comprised of three thousand, six hundred and fifty six junior secondary school students in Udi Local government area. A sample of three hundred and sixty respondents were used for the study. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the sample. A reliability coefficient of 0.80 was obtained and the instrument was adjudged reliable for the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions while chi-square statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The result of the study showed that there was high level of preventive oral health practice (68.9percent) among the junior secondary school students. The result also showed there was moderate level of promotive oral health practices (65percent). There was significant different in the preventive oral health practices based on gender. It was therefore recommended among others that since they have good preventive and promotive oral health practices, measures should be taken by both teachers and public health educators to encourage them to sustain these practices and aggressive health education by the teachers on the importance of brushing two times daily. Regular dental check up should be encouraged.