Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of school teachers toward oral health - A cross-sectional study

Objectives: The present study was done to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices among school teachers in Trivandrum, Kerala. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 6 months from December 2022 to June 2023 in Trivandrum. Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional review board. Samples were selected that met the inclusion criteria. A total of 300 school teachers from 10 schools were selected for the study. Results: Data were entered into Microsoft Excel sheets. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) and level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Descriptive statistics was performed to assess the proportion of each category of the respective groups. Inferential statistics was done using the Chi-square test for proportion. RStudio was used for the preparation of data visualization. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the overall knowledge of oral health among school teachers is fair, their attitude towards oral health is positive, and their practices are generally fair. As school teachers hold significant influence over children, enriching their knowledge can empower them to effectively disseminate oral health education to their students. School teachers, when properly trained, can significantly improve student oral health, though regional, infrastructural, and implementation challenges must be addressed for wider impact.