DIETARY HABITS AND ORAL HYGIENE PRACTICES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS, NAGPUR.

Background: Dental erosion is becoming increasingly prevalent especially among young generations and its damaging effect is emerging as a serious public health problem. Dietary habits and oral hygiene practices play an important role in dental erosion. So current study was aimed to study the prevalent dietary habits and oral hygiene practices among undergraduate dental students of VSPM dental college and research center Nagpur, Maharashtra. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 357 undergraduate dental students using pre-structured close-ended self-administered questionnaire. Data regarding dietary habits and oral hygiene practices were collected and analyzed using STATA vs.13. Result: Out of 357 dental students, majority (82.4%) were female and mean age was 19.3 years (SD: ±0.98). More than half (57.1%) were using medium type of toothbrush and majority (73.1%) students were using normal type of tooth paste. Around one-third (35.6%) students were used to consume soft-drink once or twice per day. Majority (73.1%) students were using normal toothpaste and most of them (84%) did not brush tooth after having soft-drinks. Conclusion: Dental students are not following standard dietary habits and oral hygiene practices required for prevention of dental erosion. Keywords: Dietary Habits, Oral Hygiene , Dental Students, India.