Title

Assessment of oral health literacy with dental hygiene among rural communities in India

Authors

Chanchal Gangwar^1,*, Anshul Gangwar² & Pallavi Patel³

Affiliation

¹Department of Public Health Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India; ²Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India; ³Department of Public Health Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Chanchal Gangwar - E - mail: chanchalgangwar@gmail.com

Anshul Gangwar - E - mail: gangwaranshul2001@gmail.com
Pallavi Patel - E - mail: pallaviids107@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received April 1, 2025; Revised April 30, 2025; Accepted April 30, 2025, Published April 30, 2025

Abstract

Oral health literacy (OHL) and its effect on hygiene practices among 300 adults in rural Bareilly, India is assessed. The average OHL score was 12.6 ± 3.5 out of 20, indicating moderate literacy. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.61, p < 0.001) was found between OHL and good oral hygiene practices. Only 34% brushed twice daily and 19% used mouthwash regularly. Higher OHL was significantly linked to regular dental check-ups (p = 0.002), highlighting the need for better oral health education in rural areas in India.

Keywords

Oral health literacy, dental hygiene, rural communities, oral health behavior, public health dentistry

Citation

Gangwar et al. Bioinformation 21(4): 845-848 (2025)

Edited by

Hiroj Bagde MDS, (PhD), PGDCR, PGDHHM, PGDL, PGDM

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.