Dental outreach service to Buddhist monastics in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: Buddhism is one of the most popular religions in Hong Kong. Buddhist monastics have practices such as vegetarian diet that may influence their oral health status. Objective: The outreach dental service aimed to assess the oral health condition and behaviors of monastics, deliver oral health education, conduct basic dental check-ups, and offer essential preventive and basic restorative dental care services to monastics. Methods: The major components of this outreach service were 1) questionnaires 2) oral examination, 3) provision of simple preventive treatments, and 4) oral hygiene education. The oral health status (dental caries experience, periodontal status, erosion, and possession of dentures and bridges) of the participants was collected through oral examinations, and background information, oral health-related behavior, and dental knowledge were collected through questionnaire survey. The current oral health condition and behavior of Buddhist monastics were compared with the findings of a similar Community Health Project conducted in 1995 and the 2021 Oral Health Survey. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square exact test and Spearman’s rank correlation) were performed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Result: A total of 53 monastics participated in the outreach. Approximately one third of the respondents rated their oral health as ‘very unhealthy’ or ‘unhealthy’. Three-quarters of the participants did not visit the dentist regularly. Clinical results revealed a mean DMFT of 13.2 (mean DT = 2.8, mean MT = 6.9, mean FT = 3.5), and that more than 30% of the participants had 4 (probing depth > 5.5mm) as their highest CPITN score among the six examined sextants. A quarter of the participants had a mean score of basic erosive wear examination (BEWE) 1.6– 2.0. Participants had low mean scores of 2.8 (out of 8) in caries knowledge and 2.0 (out of 7) in periodontal knowledge. Participants with primary or lower education level had more MT, fewer FT and more DMFT than those with higher education (p < 0.05). Those with a more recent dental visit had more FT (p < 0.05). Higher caries knowledge was associated with fewer MT. In the outreach service, scaling was performed on 32 participants, fluoride varnish (NaF) was applied on 18, silver diamine fluoride (SDF) applied on 22, and atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) performed on 8. Conclusion: Our study explored the oral health status of the monastics in Hong Kong, while emphasizing some of the barriers such as geographical constraints and dental anxiety that the monastics may face when seeking dental treatment. Clinical oral examinations, oral hygiene instructions, and basic preventive and restorative treatments were also delivered to and well-received by the participants.