Oral hygiene in troop personnel of a Peruvian barracks

Yanapa-Vilca S.B. · Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar (2025)

Resumen

Introduction: Oral hygiene is essential to prevent oral diseases and maintain general health. In the military context, good oral hygiene is crucial because of its impact on troop performance. Objective: To determine the level of oral hygiene among the troops of the “Fuerte Arica" barracks in Tacna. Methodology: Descriptive study with a quantitative and cross-sectional approach. Age, education level and military grade were considered. The 394 military personnel participated and the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) was used, using plaque-revealing tablets. The data were organized in Microsoft Excel and processed in IBM SPSS Statistics 26, using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: 59.9% of the military had a regular level of oral hygiene, 29.9% a poor level and 10.2% a good level. According to age, 57.7% of military personnel aged 18-21 and 74.3% of 22-25 years had a regular level, and 60% of military personnel aged 26-30 years old had a good level. According to the level of education, 68.6% with primary education had a poor level, 67% with secondary education had a regular level and 56.3% with higher education had a good level. According to the military rank; soldiers, corporals, second and first sergeants had a regular level, in the same order, with percentages of 54.5%, 69.4%, 66.1% and 76.5%. Conclusion: It was determined that the troop personnel of the "Fort Arica" barracks in Tacna had a regular level of oral hygiene.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann