Preethi Raj M and Jayashri Prabakar*
Introduction: In this modern world of technology, advanced dental treatment takes place where few myths and taboos regarding dentistry and oral health behaviours still occur. Taboos vary with age, gender, level of education of living. Therefore, the aim of the study is to assess the taboos and myths related to dentistry and oral health behaviours. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in the Saveetha Dental College and Hospital (Saveetha University) where the total sample size arrived was 136.The study population contains adult male and female patients over the age of 20 approached for dental treatment. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board in Saveetha University. The first part of the questionnaire contains demographic details which include age, gender and the second part of the questionnaire contains knowledge, attitude and practice towards taboos and myths on dentistry and oral health behaviours. Simple random sampling technique was followed. Data will be entered in Microsoft Excel Sheet and analysed using SPSS software (IBM Software version 23; NY). Descriptive statistics was expressed by means of number and frequency and percentage and the chi square test was used to find out association between variables. Level of statistical significance will be P<0.05. Result: In the study conducted, 41.18% visit dental clinics once in a year. 52.21% of people brush twice a day. 49.26% use toothpaste and toothbrush as the aid for cleaning teeth.30.88% of females and 22.06% of males believe that extraction of upper teeth causes fever. 46.32% of females and 27.94% of males suggest that cloves can be used to ease tooth pain. Pearson’s chi square value: 4.973, p value: 0.026, (p<0.05) hence statistically significant, providing females believe in more taboos and myths compared to males. Conclusion: From this study, it is concluded that females believe in more taboos and myths compared to males.
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