Oral Hygiene Practices and Associated Factors among Patients Visiting Private Dental Clinics at Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia, 2018

Table 2

Frequency and percentage distribution of patients’ practices regarding oral hygiene in dental clinics, Hawassa City Administration, Southern Ethiopia, 2018 (n = 393).

Items	Category	Frequency	Percent
Cleaning teeth	Yes	383	97.5
	No	10	2.5
Frequency of cleaning teeth	Regularly	206	53.8
	Sometimes	177	46.2
Cleaning aid used	Tooth brush	294	76.8
	Finger	6	1.6
	Tree stick	77	20.1
	Others	6	1.6
Cleaning material	Tooth paste	294	76.8
	Tooth powder	5	1.3
	Charcoal	21	5.5
	Others	63	16.4
Frequency of cleaning teeth per day	Once a day	228	59.5
	Twice a day	127	33.2
	More than twice daily	28	7.3
Aids to clean interdental areas	Never	211	55.1
	Sometimes	172	44.9
Frequency of changing tooth brush	<2 months	164	42.8
	2-3 months	117	30.5
	3 up to 6 months	70	18.3
	>6 months	32	8.4
Time of cleaning teeth	Less than 3 minutes	197	51.4
	3 minutes or above	186	48.6
Tooth paste used	Fluoridated tooth paste	96	25.1
	Nonfluoridated	58	15.1
	Do not know	229	59.8
Technique of tooth brushing	Circular	42	11
	Horizontal	138	36
	Vertical	56	14.6
	Combined	147	38.4
Cleaning tongue	Yes	251	65.5
	No	132	34.5
Rinsing mouth after eating	Yes	352	91.9
	No	31	8.1