Assessment of Knowledge and Their Perceived Role as Oral Health Educators among Government School Teachers in Tirupur District

Introduction: Oral health is vital for overall well-being. As oral health educators, school teachers have successfully improved students’ oral health. The World Health Organization endorses “Health-promoting schools” to create a healthy environment for living, learning, and working. The study assesses government school teachers’ knowledge and perceived roles as oral health educators in the Tirupur district. Methodology: A 3-month observational study was conducted among 507 government school teachers of the Tirupur district using a pretested questionnaire. The schools were randomly selected, and all the school teachers of the selected schools participated in the study after obtaining a consent form. Each teacher was approached individually by the investigator; questionnaires were distributed and collected back on the same day. Results: School teachers have 60% knowledge about periodontal disease and 42.4% about fluoride. About 96.8% of teachers suggested that awareness dental camps and workshops could be organized and that unhealthy foods should be banned near schools. School teachers like to play passive roles in oral health education, and there is a high agreement rate (91.7%) to integrate oral health topics with subjects taught in classrooms. Conclusion: School teachers can be trained in oral hygiene so that they disseminate information to future society. This may encourage them to maintain good oral hygiene and reduce the incidence of oral diseases by using dental services.