Examining the level of knowledge of undergraduate nursing students about the principles of oral and dental health based on oral and dental health indicators: the experience of Iranian students of the curriculum

Introduction: Oral and dental health is one of the important branches of public health, which has a significant impact on people's health and quality of life, and improving oral and dental health is one of the most important goals of preventing other diseases. Meanwhile, nurses can actively participate in the promotion of oral health care. The purpose of this research is to investigate the level of oral and dental health awareness of nursing students as future nurses based on oral and dental health indicators. Research method: In this cross-sectional study, 119 third- and fourth-year nursing students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences were included in the study. The questionnaire was used as a tool to evaluate the level of knowledge of students about oral and dental health, and the Chi-square test was used by spss software to analyze the data. Results: There was no significant relationship between the level of knowledge and ability of students about oral and dental hygiene with the duration of studying at the university, gender, marital status and grade point average (p>0.05). Meanwhile, there is a significant relationship between the level of awareness of nursing students in the field of oral and dental health indicators and the necessity of teaching these topics in the field of nursing (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study can be useful as a basis for teaching oral and dental health indicators in theory courses or internships for nursing students. Also, it can be used as a basis for the development of knowledge and the body of science in the field of nursing, and it can be effective in helping to improve the level of oral and dental health of people in the community and patients.