Oral health and its determinants among Mongolian dentists

This study compares the dental health of dentists with that of their population counterparts, and relates dentists' oral health to oral health behavior and professional preventive knowledge and orientation. A questionnaire requesting information on the dentists' oral health, preventive knowledge, and orientation and oral health behavior, was targeted at all actively practicing dentists (n = 250) in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. A self-reported dentigram served as the basis for assessing dental health, while the 1996 National Oral Health Survey provided data for comparison with population counterparts. The response rate was 98%. Compared to their general-population counterparts, younger dentists exhibited a similar level of caries experience (DMFT) and missing teeth (NMT), whereas older dentists exhibited a lower level. In all age groups, mean numbers of decayed teeth (DT) among dentists were much smaller than for their population counterparts, whereas mean numbers of filled teeth (FT) were much higher. Of all, 81% reported brushing their teeth twice daily or more, 62% used fluoride-containing toothpaste always or almost always, and 52% consumed sugar-containing foods between main meals less than once a day. The better oral health behavior of dentists was best explained by their greater preventive knowledge and their better dental health by better oral health behavior in logistic models. It is concluded that among these dentists there is room for improvement of their own oral health behavior. Towards this end, specially designed continuing education courses could serve to improve dentists' health-related knowledge and change their oral self-care behavior.