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Abstract
Background: Dental caries remains a major burden for young adults, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and is one of the most common chronic, non-communicable diseases worldwide. Because university students are in a transitional phase of life a time when dietary habits, oral hygiene routines, and behaviors like smoking become deeply ingrained they represent a crucial demographic for understanding and managing modifiable risk factors for decay.
Objective: This study was conducted among undergraduate students at Abasyn University in Peshawar, Pakistan, with the aim of tracking how often these caries-risk behaviors occur and pinpointing the specific risk factors linked to them.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to a sample of 109 undergraduate students between February and July of 2026. Using a 5 margin of error and a 95% confidence level, the sample size was calculated using Raosoft's online sample size calculator. Data Collection Procedure Data were collected by a pre-tested questionnaire consisting of self-structured questions on the knowledge regarding oral health and its correlates among the research participants. dental examinations, oral hygiene, eating and tobacco use. Methods All this data analysis was done in Python (version 3.10). Age is reported as mean ± SD, and categorical variables are presented as percentages and frequencies. Statistical assessment of association between variables was done using the chi-square test
Results: The average age of the students was 20.58 +/ 1.71 years. The percentage of men in each age group varied, ranging from 49.54% in the next group to 85.25% in 18.20%. closely all students (99.08%) acknowledged the significantly the maintain good oral health; On the other hand, just 49.54% of people brushed their teeth twice a day, although most of them (60.55%) did so for at least two minutes as advised, while 44.95% brushed once a day. The auxiliary aids, mouthwash (41.28%) and miswak (36.70%) were most appreciated. Tendency to seek dental services was mostly occasional and reactive (treatment sought after pain), as 41.28% of students waited for pain to occur before consulting a dentist, and furthermore, 17.43% of students had never sought dental treatment some form of oral vacuum use. Tobacco use was reported in 14.68%. No statistically significant relationships were found between oral hygiene practices and tobacco use, frequency of soft drink intake or level of dental health awareness (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings show that while undergraduate students possess a strong understanding of oral hygiene, this knowledge does not automatically translate into active preventive habits. This gap is especially visible in how often they brush their teeth and their lack of routine dental check-ups. Ultimately, these outcomes emphasize an urgent need for tailored oral health campaigns. Instead of just teaching facts, these initiatives should focus on bridging the gap between awareness and practice, helping students build consistent daily habits to lower their overall risk of tooth decay