The American Dental Association did a survey about consumer knowledge of dental health and hygiene and unfortunately no one aced the test!
The public scores ranged from a high of 85% to a low of 29% and the overall average was 60% correct. Apparently we, the dental community, have a lot of work to do to improve public knowledge. A few items picked up from the survey:
-Those consumers who are caregivers with children at home scored slightly higher
-Women scored higher then men by 4%
-Higher formal education equated to a higher score: college degree 62% ………without a high school diploma 55%
-Higher incomes also scored higher
When it came to the following topics, consumer knowledge was actually pretty good:
-what is gingivitis? 95% got it right
-does your mouth changes when you get older? 93% correct
-should pregnant women should pay extra attention to their dentla health? 92% correct
-do denture wearers still need to visit the dentist? 92% correct
On the other hand consumer knowledge was lacking:
-when their children should be able to brush their teeth (only 6% were correct: after 7 years of age)
-whether one should brush after every meal (10% were correct to say YES)
-whether sugar causes cavities (19%……seriously, I thought we had taught that leson but the answer is YES)
Other survey results:
-85% felt that a good smile is extremely or very important to finding a job
-83% of households still participate in tooth fairy rewards
-1 in 5 have shied away from social events because of problems with their teeth
-In regards to physical attractiveness, a nice smile outwieighed skin, eyes, hair, and build or figure as the most important attribute!!!!!!!!!!
You can go to www.MouthHealthy.org to test your dental IQ
