Abstract

FERNANDEZ-RIVEIRO, Paula; GONZALVEZ BECERRA, Patricia; LEIS FILLOY, Catherine  and  SMYTH CHAMOSA, Ernesto. Oral health and tobacco in students at Santiago de Compostela University. RCOE [online]. 2007, vol.12, n.1-2, pp.23-29. ISSN 1138-123X.

Objective. The aim of this study was to describe the habits related to oral health and to determine the patterns of tobacco smoking among students at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Material and Methods. Advanced students in dentistry carried out a survey on habits and an examination of the oral cavity of their peers. They also determined CO concentration in exhaled air. Results. The questionnaires were answered by 1279 students, 27.5% of which were male and 72.5% female. The mean age of the sample was 21.4 years. Among respondents, 90% washed their teeth after eating, above 80% spent more than 1 minute in their oral hygiene and used an average of more than 3 toothbrushes per year. Nearly 100% of the sample visited the dentist. We performed 342 examinations which resulted in a DMF rate of 3.71 and a restoration rate of 70.8%; 32.4% of the population smoked an average of 11.5 cigarettes per day. The most frequent starting age of the habit was 16 years-old. No significant differences were found between smokers and non smokers for most of the studied variables with the exceptions of the presence of discolored teeth, the amount of toothpaste used for brushing teeth and the subjective perception of oral health. The average value of expired CO in smokers was 12.6. Conclusions. Among students of our university there is a high degree of awareness concerning oral health. Tobacco smoking habit is less frequent than in the general population in the same age range. There were no differences between smokers and non smokers for oral health and oral health habits.

Keywords : Oral health; Tobacco; Undergraduate students.

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