TEETH WHITENING AMONG CLINICAL YEAR MEDICAL AND DENTAL STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The use of professional and self-prescribed methods of whitening teeth has become more common among young
people. This may be due to psycho-social influences. The knowledge individuals have on teeth whitening is limited because professionals may not necessarily be the primary source, and most practices are anecdotal and not fully backed by scientific research.
AIM: To assess the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of clinical year medical and dental students of the University of Ghana towards
teeth whitening.
METHODOLOGY: The study was a cross-sectional study with 214 clinical year students (51 dental and 163 medical) at the Korle-Bu
Teaching Hospital, Accra. The data was collected using a structured online questionnaire and summarised using descriptive statistics with tables and charts. Data was analysed using Chi-Square (χ2) tests from Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26, and the level of significance was set at P<0.05.
RESULTS: There were 214 participants in the study: 123(57.5%) females and 91(42.5%) males. Most of the respondents were medical
students, 163(76.2%), while 51(23.8%) were from the dental school. Teeth whitening was the least likely reason (1.90%) for visiting the
dentist, even though most respondents (77.1%) were interested in whitening their teeth. The internet and social media were the main
sources of information about whitening (32.4%). Self-prescribed bleaching procedures were preferred among a majority (84.1%) of
respondents, while only 15.9% had sought professional teeth whitening.
CONCLUSION: Generally, respondents had good knowledge about tooth whitening and its related side effects. Though teeth whitening was the least common reason for attendance at the dental clinic, most people were dissatisfied with their dental appearance, especially tooth colour. Respondents mostly resorted to at-home whitening methods or methods they had seen online. Females were more likely to undergo self-prescribed whitening methods. More than half of respondents knew of whitening side-effects, mainly teeth sensitivity, and relapse to previous tooth colour.