Oral Health Seeking Behaviour of Orphan Children in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 371 orphan children aged between 6 and 17 years of four different institutions in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, between January and December of 2023, to determine their oral health seeking behaviour. We selected participants through convenient sampling method. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire with checklist (Bangla version) was used to collect data. Data was collected by face-to-face interview of the participants. Apart from sociodemographic checklist, questions were asked relating to oral healthcare seeking behaviour in the last year. The mean age of the participants was 10.96±2.52 years. 87.33% were boys and 12.67% were girls; male-female ratio was 6.9:1. 96% of them were Muslims. 46.6% were from class-I to class-IV, while 41.5% were from class-V to class-VIII. 48% of them were from urban area, while 45% were from rural area; however, 7% did not know anything about their home district. 48.5% of the children’s duration of stay in the orphanage was less than 2 years, while 35% of them were staying in the orphanage between 2 and 5 years. Among those children, 50.9% reported for seeking oral healthcare. 39.6% sought oral healthcare due to toothache and decay, while 5.9% respondents told about mobility of teeth. Most of them (42.6%) went to the local pharmacy, while 36.7% reported to the government facilities and 18.6% to private facilities. Only 0.8% reported to their own institutional physician for oral healthcare. 81.4% of the orphan children told that they had healthcare facilities within 1 kilometre, and for 12.9%, it was 2-3 kilometers away. For self-medication practices, 68.8% argued about easily available medications (including over-the-counter drugs), while 18.8% respondents indicted towards the cost of doctor visit.  62.5% had cure or improvement, while 2.7% could prevent further illness; however, 9.4% had no cure at all.  

CBMJ 2026 July: Vol. 15 No. 02 P:68-72