Background: Nursing is an important discipline and is considered as an essential community provider of health information and attitude formation. The knowledge and attitude of nurses is an important factor in shaping and changing community, since they set the example for their clients.
Aim: The aim of this study was to identify nursing students' knowledge regarding oral health, to identify their habits regarding oral health, and examine their oral health-related attitudes and behavior.
Subject and Methods: The present study used a descriptive study design. The setting was the University Secondary Nursing School at Assiut city. The subjects of the study were 246 nursing students at the pre-final and final year. Two tools were used in this study; the first tool is developed by the investigator to assess students' knowledge and habits regarding oral health. The second tool is the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) to assess the oral heath attitude/behavior of the students.
Results: More than three-quarters of the students (76.4%) had satisfactory knowledge regarding oral health, more than half of students (56.9%) had negative attitudes towards oral health.
There is no statistical significance relation between the level of students' knowledge and their attitude, habits, and personal characteristics regarding oral health except for age and grade.
Conclusion: The study showed that although the students had satisfactory basic knowledge about oral health, their attitude and practices toward oral health was relatively poor.
Recommendations: A new curriculum incorporating basic topics on oral hygiene should be included for nursing students. Conduct continuing education programs for the newly graduated nurses to improve their knowledge, attitude and awareness about oral health.