Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
March 2013
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Vol:
30
Issue:
1

Attitudes towards the use of fluorides for oral health among Islamic clerics in Kelantan Province, Malaysia

doi:10.1922/CDH_2909Nazita04

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Imams (Islamic clerics) concerning fluoride toothpaste and fluoridated water to improve oral health in Kelantan. Basic research design: Cross sectional study of Imams in 65 registered mosques in Pasir Puteh district, Kelantan. Method and participants: Face-to-face interview, using structured questionnaire and some open ended questions. Results: Most of the 83 interviewees (82% participation rate) were unsure whether their toothpaste contained fluoride (64%), only 25% were sure. More than one-third (37%) were using fluoridated piped water. Most (87%) had little knowledge of fluorides and more than two-thirds (69%) had lacked positive attitudes towards its use. Television (54%) was the most common source of information about fluorides, followed by newspapers (9%). The main reasons given among the few who opposed fluoride use were i) fear of dangerous side effects (4%) and ii) uncertainty about the halal status of fluoride (2%), Attitudes were not associated with the use of fluoridated water supply (p=0.999), age (p=0.103), income (p=0.540) and location (p=0.999). Conclusion: Over two-thirds of Imams had little knowledge of and lacked positive attitudes towards fluoride use in toothpaste and piped water supplies.

Key words: Attitude, fluorides, fluoridation, toothpastes, Muslims

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
30
Page End
33
Authors
Y. Nazita, N. Jaafar, J.G. Doss, M.M.A. Rahman

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  1. Editorial - The British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry at forty: our professional project
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  1. Acknowledgement of Referees
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  1. Dental Public Health in Action - Challenges encountered when conducting a dental health needs assessment of older people resident in care homes: experience from England
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  1. Rare diseases with oral components: care course and quality of life
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  1. Fluoridation and dental caries severity in young children treated under general anaesthesia: an analysis of treatment records in a 10-year case series
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  1. Measuring determinants of oral health behaviour in parents of preschool children
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  1. The self-reported oral health status and dental attendance of smokers and non-smokers
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  1. Attitudes towards the use of fluorides for oral health among Islamic clerics in Kelantan Province, Malaysia
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  1. The views of examiners on the use of intra-oral photographs to detect dental caries in epidemiological studies
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  1. Caries experience and treatment need in adults with intellectual disabilities in two German regions
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  1. Attitudes towards establishing a daily supervised school-based toothbrushing programme - determined by Q-sort methodology
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  1. Oral health literacy comparisons between Indigenous Australians and American Indians
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  1. Oral health literacy comparisons between Indigenous Australians and American Indians
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  3. 57