DENTAL FLOSS

Objectives: To assist the concept and use of dental floss amongundergraduate dental students of Liaquat University of Medical & Health sciences,Jamshoro. Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive case series study. Setting:Institute of Dentistry, Liaquat University of Medical Health, Jamshoro, Pakistan.Period: June 2015 to December 2015. Methodology: In this study 192 studentsof BDS Department, Institute of Dentistry, Liaquat University of Medical & HealthScience, Jamshoro were selected. Questions related to assess the knowledge 87.14%students knew what dental floss was. Results: 74.29% students knew that dentalfloss remove plaque from interdental areas, whereas 25.71% replied don’t know.48.57% of the students thought that dental floss should be customarily used alongwith tooth brushing every day, 24.29% of the students thought that dental floss harmsthe interdental gingiva, whereas majority 40% said that it would not harm the gingiva,35.71% replied don’t know. only 18.57% respondent thought that toothbrushes withadvanced bristles designs would remove interdental plaque similar to dental floss,whereas majority (60%) of the respondent had no any idea about the effectiveness oftwo cleaning methods, practice of using dental floss 18.57% of students use interdentalaids commonly floss and while 81.43% did not use dental floss. 27.14% of the studysubjects use some other interdental aids like tooth picks to clean interdental areas,whereas 72.86% did not follow any other interdental cleaning practice. Conclusion:This study has focused light on the knowledge and practice of interdental aid, sofurther studies are needed. Finally, it could be concluded that awareness regardingdental floss needs to be bolstered in the population as preventive oral health carebehavior.