Assessment of dental myths and misconceptions among the people of Chitwan, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Even though, dentistry has developed a lot in present days, dental myths and misconceptions still exist which is also in a way creating hinderance in accepting the advanced curative, preventive treatments. The present study was aimed to assess the prevalent dental myths and misconceptions among the people of Chitwan, Nepal.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 250 residents of Chitwan, Nepal, from 15th July 2021 to 15th August 2021. A convenience sampling method was employed to collect the data from the residents of Chitwan. A self-administered questionnaire was used. The data was entered into Microsoft Excel Version 2019 and later transferred into Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 16 and analysed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage).

Results: There were in total 250 residents of Chitwan who participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 52.51±10.23 years. Among the 250 participants 153 (61.2%) were females and 97 (38.8 were females). About 108 (43.2%) participants believed that dental pain can be reduced by visiting shaman, hermits and monks. While 146 (58.4%) agreed that extraction of upper teeth affects eye vision, 152 (60.8%) were positive towards association of wisdom tooth with human intelligence. About 66.8% believed that charcoal whitens the tooth.

Conclusions: The present study concluded that dental myths are prevalent among the residents of Chitwan. These myths should be addressed by creating awareness programs from the community level.