Evaluation of Gingival Bleeding Awareness Among Dental Students at University of Tripoli

Background and objectives. Bleeding of the gingiva is considered as an early sign of gingival inflammation and periodontal destruction. Bleeding on probing is used by clinicians to measure the prevalence and progression of periodontal disease, evaluate treatment outcome, and motivate patients to perform regular professional home care. The aims of this study were to assess self-experience gingival bleeding and to determine the oral health attitude and behavior among Libyan dental students. Methods. About 230 undergraduate dental students were given a questionnaire administered by three investigators after taking verbal consent. The answers of the filled questionnaires have been collected within 30 days and analyzed through SPSS version 25. Results. A total of 220 students answered the questionnaire and the frequency of gingival bleeding during tooth brushing were (55.0%) of students rarely experience gingival bleeding, twenty-nine participants (13.2%) frequently practiced gingival bleeding, and nearly one third (70, 31.8%) of students conveyed no bleeding. More than 72% of the students answered that smoking might increase gingival bleeding. Regarding mechanical stimuli, tooth brushing was considered by 77.7% of students as the main cause of gingival bleeding. Along with 18.7% have bleeding while eating hard food. Furthermore, only 3.6% of the study sample have early morning gingival bleeding. After bleeding, 33.2% of students visited the dentist whereas 23.6% of students stopped tooth brushing. Conclusions. Knowledge and awareness concerning cause of gingival bleeding is still poor among Libyan dental students. Furthermore, many responses of these students were inappropriate or not optimal regarding the management of the gingival bleeding. Therefore, more dental health education is needed to improve oral health and prevent periodontal disease.