Journal of International Dental and Medical Research ISSN 1309-100X Oral Health Attitude Score and Caries Experience http://www.jidmr.com Nazirah Ab Mumin, and et al Volume ∙ 13 ∙ Number ∙ 1 ∙ 2020 Page 346 The Relationship between Oral Health Attitude (HU-DBI) Score and Caries Experience (DMFT) Score among First Year Dental Students in USIM, Malaysia. Nazirah Ab Mumin 1* , Haslinda Ramli 1 , Syatirah Najmi Abdullah 1 , Asfizahrasby Mohd. Rasoul 1 , Azlan Jaafar 1 , Haslina Rani 2 1.Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). 2.Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Abstract Oral health attitude and behaviours are important indicators of a person’s oral health status. Measuring caries experience is one of the assessments to investigate overall oral health status. Our study aimed to determine the relationship between oral health attitude and caries experience in a group of first year dental students in Faculty of Dentistry, USIM, Malaysia. The hypothesis was the higher HU-DBI score of a person, the lower their DMFT score. All 35 newly registered first year dental students were examined clinically, and their caries status was measured using the DMFT score, a standard index used to measure caries experience with lower score indicates low caries experience. Hiroshima University - Dental Behaviour Inventory (HU-DBI) questionnaire in English version was used to measure their oral health attitude. Twelve items were selected and scored, with one point given for each agree/ disagree answer given. Higher scores indicate better oral health attitude and behaviour, with maximum score of 12. Data were statistically analysed using SPSS ver. 17. Pearson correlation were used to analyse the strength of linear relationship between oral health attitude (HU-DBI score) and caries experience (DMFT score). There was no significant correlation between oral health attitude and caries experience (r = - 0.022, p value =0.9). However, the correlation coefficient showed a negative trend, possibly indicating an inverse relationship between the two variables. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2020; 13(1): 346-350) Keywords: Oral health, health behaviour, attitude to health, dental caries. Received date: 06 November 2018 Accept date: 19 August 2019 Introduction An individual’s attitude towards health is one of the determinants in theories of behaviour change 1 . Having the right attitude is an important antecedent in ensuring the health-promoting behaviours desired can be achieved, hence resulting with improved health status of the person. Health behaviour can be defined as “...overt behaviour patterns, actions and habits that relate to health maintenance, to health restoration and to health improvement...” 2 . It is also synonymously referred to as ‘health-related behaviour’ considering the basis that these behaviours could influence individual’s health status. Among the important health-related behaviours that is relevant to oral health status is having a good oral hygiene practice specifically toothbrushing habit 3 . A good toothbrushing habit with fluoridated toothpaste has been proven to prevent caries formation 4 and good plaque control regime is beneficial in reducing risk of periodontal disease 5 . Adopting health-promoting behaviours is pivotal in maintaining and achieving good health. Several studies have shown that socio- economic factor influences oral health behaviours and attitudes 3,6,7 . One study looked into gender-specific oral health attitudes and behaviours comparing men and women 8 while another study made comparison in oral health attitudes between dental students in Britain and China 9 . From the literature, there was a minimal number of research papers written about relationship between oral health attitude and caries experience. Only one study investigated *Corresponding author: Dr Nazirah Ab Mumin. Department of Periodontology and Community Oral Health Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Level 15, Tower B, Persiaran MPAJ,Jalan Pandan Utama, Pandan Indah,55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: drnazirah@usim.edu.my