THE AWARENESS OF SOCIETY ON QUALITY OF CHARCOAL CONTENT AS ORAL CLEANING AGENT IN CHENNAI
Prepared by: Mohamad Haikal Bin Zakaria (BDS 1st Year)
Guided by: Dr. Abilasha .R, MDS
ABSTRACT
Aim:
The survey is conducted to determine the awareness of society in Chennai, India on quality of charcoal content in toothpaste.
Objective:
The survey is carried out in order to:
a) Build up the knowledge to the community/society on the charcoal content in oral cleaning agents.
b) Create awareness about maintaining proper oral hygiene by using proper toothpaste.
c) Learn about advantages and disadvantages for using for each charcoal and baking soda toothpaste.
Background:
The toothpaste is widely used in the society, but most of them do not even know the content, advantages and disadvantages. It is the effort which is made to inform on how important to maintain normal development, physiological function and to prevent diseases of mouth and adjacent port.
Reason:
There are very few studies have been done related to the evaluation and exposure of toothpaste flavours such as charcoal, lime and baking soda. This is included each flavour’s advantages and disadvantages as well as its content. This study also has been made in order to the society have their right in choosing the toothpaste that good for them based on some circumstances.
KEYWORD: charcoal, flavor, content, toothpaste, physiological function, diseases of mouth.
INTRODUCTION
The employments of charcoal in cleaning specialists, for example, toothpaste and tooth brush are broadly connected in everywhere throughout the world. The employments of charcoal as flavour in oral cleaning specialists additionally accessible even in India. The charcoal kinds of toothpastes are effectively gotten from the grocery stores, shopping malls and so forth. Their advertising in Chennai demonstrates an expanded pattern with the goal that it gives a positive hint on the attention to society in Chennai on charcoal items.
Because of its common detoxifying properties, charcoal goes about as a magnet for poisons and contaminations. Everything from charcoal toothpaste, charcoal pills, charcoal toothpaste and numerous others charcoal-based excellence items, you can popularized it into magnificence and wellbeing items. As illustration, the healthy skin industry in the United States is a $110 billion industry in 2014, and is relied upon to keep on growing. [1]
The science of charcoal is complex. Despite the fact that the purest structures basically comprise of all carbon, the little measures of pollutions that stay taking after burning of the source material have been difficult to portray. Therapeutic charcoals have been created with a high surface range to-weight proportion keeping in mind the end goal to amplify adsorption limit.
The adsorptive properties of charcoal can be expanded by treatment with substances, for example, carbon dioxide, oxygen, air, steam, sulfuric corrosive, zinc chloride, or phosphoric corrosive (or mixes of these) at high temperatures (500° to 900°C). These materials evacuate contaminations and diminish the molecule size of carbon, permitting more adsorption because of expanded surface region. One milliliter of finely subdivided and enacted therapeutic charcoal has an aggregate surface territory of around 1,000 m 2 . Restorative or actuated charcoal is a fleecy, fine, dark, scentless, and vapid powder without lumpy material. It is insoluble in water or other basic solvents however might be suspended for a brief timeframe after enthusiastic shaking. [2]
MATERIALS AND METHODS
For this study, people from various backgrounds are aimed at. Therefore, some places in Chennai are being selected in this survey such as:
i. Anna Nagar
ii. Mudichur, Tambaram
iii. T. Nagar
iv. Kanathur
v. Poonamalle
These places were approached due concentrated population of people from various backgrounds. The survey has been done from 15th January 2016 till 16th February 2016 in other words, the duration for this survey is 33 days.
The study is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional survey. A self-structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used for this survey. Nineteen (19) questions excluded general information were used in the questionnaire. Sixteen (16) closed-ended type questions and 3 open-ended questions were included in this questionnaire.
A total sample of five hundreds (500) subjects from various backgrounds and irrespective of sex was included in this study. People are approached randomly. All the subjects were approached with a questionnaire and the answers were recorded through an oral interactive session. Hence proper assessment regarding subjects’ knowledge on the subject was made and explanation was given to them in case they were unaware. The questionnaires were given as below:
Saveetha Dental College
A study on society awareness towards selected cleaning agents which containing charcoal, reference to Chennai, India.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Instruction: Please put a tick in the box next to the answer of your choice or write in the space
provided below.
Name: ______
Sex: ______
Age: ______
Religion: ______
Nationality: ______
Email (optional): ______
Where is your living location (area)?
a) Urban
b) Rural
What is the highest level of formal education you have completed?
a) Primary school
b) Secondary school
c) NCE
d) Diploma
e) First degree
f) Post-graduate Diploma
g) Masters
Occupational status
a) Student
b) Not working
c) Employed
d) Medical staff
How many times you brush your teeth in a day?
a) Never
b) Once
c) Twice
d) More than twice
What do you use in order to brush your teeth?
a) Toothbrush
b) Hand
c) Others
Do you want to get your teeth clean?
a) Yes
b) No
What flavor do you prefer to use for your toothpaste?
a) Charcoal
b) Baking soda
c) Lime
d) Others
You used it due to?
a) Quality
b) Price
c) Media attraction
d) Simply
Are you brand conscious?
a) Yes
b) No
If not, what do you think is the most important aspect that people nowadays look on?
______
Have you ever heard about toothpaste that containing charcoal?
a) Yes
b) No
If yes, from where did you know that? (Ignore this question if your answer is ‘NO’)
a) Television
b) Newspaper
c) Media social
d) Radio
e) Magazine
Do you know any information about the quality of charcoal as cleaning agent?
a) No
b) Yes
If yes, from what is it? (Ignore this question if your answer is ‘NO’)
______
Charcoal can cause your teeth turn black and dirty? Do you agree?
a) Yes
b) No
Are you aware on the contents of toothpaste that you used?
a) Yes
b) No
Do you think it is necessary to choose the flavor of toothpaste wisely?
a) Yes
b) No
Do you like to switch your current toothpaste flavor if you get some scientific quality of charcoal flavor?
a) Yes
b) No
If you become a dentist, what is your suggestion in order to increase the awareness of society towards charcoal as cleaning agents?
______
Date: ______
Thank you very much for participating in this survey!
Prepared by: Mohamad Haikal Bin Zakaria (BDS 1st Year)
RESULTS
The results of the survey conducted are being illustrated in tables, graphs and charts as shown below. The answers selected by the 500 subjects were analyzed for every question. Below are the tables of items selected by all 500 hundred subjects and the analysis was stated below of each table.
Age
Table 1
Items / Frequency / Percentage7 years old-17 years old / 117 subjects / 23.4%
18 years old- 39 years old / 234 subjects / 46.8%
40 years old-60 years old / 118 subjects / 23.6%
60 years old and above / 31 subjects / 6.2%
Living location
Table 2
Items / FrequencyUrban / 227 subjects / 45.4%
Rural / 273 subjects / 54.6%
Level of formal education
Table 3
Items / Frequency / PercentagePrimary school / 50 subjects / 10.0%
Secondary school / 67 subjects / 13.4%
NCE / 84 subjects / 16.8%
Diploma / 99 subjects / 19.8%
First Degree / 125 subjects / 25.0%
PG Diploma / 48 subjects / 9.6%
Masters / 27 subjects / 5.4%
Occupational status
Table 4
Items / Frequency / PercentageStudent / 194 subjects / 38.8%
Unemployed / 96 subjects / 19.2%
Employed / 164 subjects / 32.8%
Medical staff (doctor, dentist, science-related job) / 46 subjects / 9.2%
How many times you brush your teeth in a day?
Table 5
Items / Frequency / PercentageNever / 3 subjects / 0.6%
Once / 112 subjects / 22.4%
Twice / 315 subjects / 63.0%
More than twice / 68 subjects / 13.6%
What do you use in order to brush your teeth?
Table 6
Items / Frequency / PercentageToothbrush / 476 subjects / 95.2%
Hand / 16 subjects / 3.2%
Others / 8 subjects / 1.6%
This question was risen up in order to know on how much the society taking care of their teeth. Based on the results shown, most of citizens (95.2%) in Chennai were taking care their teeth so much instead of using hand (3.2%) or other materials (1.6%).
Do you want to get your teeth clean?
Table 7
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 498 subjects / 99.6%
No / 2 subjects / 0.4%
The results shown in Table 7 which are the total of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer for the question on if they want to get their teeth clean or not. There was 99.6% of the total samples who wanted to get their teeth cleaned while only a few which was 0.4% of 500 samples didn’t.
What flavor do you prefer to use for your toothpaste?
Table 8
Items / Frequency / PercentageCharcoal / 24 subjects / 4.8%
Baking soda / 38 subjects / 7.6%
Lime / 54 subjects / 10.8%
Others / 384 subjects / 76.8%
This question’s aim was to verify on is it the choosing of flavor is necessary for them or not. Looking at the results shown above, we can see that the least known flavor and the least flavor preferred used by the samples was charcoal which was only 4.8%. The most was others(76.8%), followed by lime(10.8%) and baking soda(7.6%).
You used it due to?
Table 9
Items / Frequency / PercentageQuality / 87 subjects / 17.4%
Price / 318 subjects / 63.6%
Media attraction / 44 subjects / 8.8%
Simply / 51 subjects / 10.2%
The results obtained showed that the most famous factor among the society in Chennai was price which more than 60% of the samples choosing price factor as the answer on why they were using particular toothpaste.
Are you brand conscious?
Table 10
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 155 subjects / 31.0%
No / 345 subjects / 69.0%
Regarding the open-ended question on the opinion of the reason of choose their own cleaning agents such as toothpaste and toothbrush, most of the respondents stated that because of the price is valuable. In this current world economic growth gradually falling, cost of living would be one of the problems faced by everyone. Therefore, generally we can assume that price would be an aspect that people will look on when choosing stuffs. We can see that 69% of the subjects are never care on the brand of cleaning agents used.
Have you ever heard about toothpaste that containing charcoal?
Table 11
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 139 subjects / 27.8%
No / 361 subjects / 72.2%
It looks like still more than three quarters of 500 subjects are never heard about charcoal as flavor in oral cleaning agents such as toothpaste and toothbrushes while only 28% of them would have heard about it.
Do you know any information about the quality of charcoal as cleaning agent?
Table 12
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 36 subjects / 7.2%
No / 464 subjects / 92.8%
There was only 7.2% of the samples were choosing ‘Yes’ option and other 92.8% were choosing ‘No’. Less than one-tenth of the total subjects did not know and aware on the quality of charcoal as oral cleaning agents.
Charcoal can cause your teeth turn black and dirty? Do you agree?
Table 13
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 313 subjects / 62.6%
No / 187 subjects / 37.4%
63% of the 500 subjects were agreeing that charcoal will make their teeth blacken instead of whitening. There is only 37% of them were not agree with that statement which also means not even half of them know well charcoal’s role as the cleaning agent for teeth.
Are you aware on the contents of toothpaste that you used?
Table 14
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 23 subjects / 4.6%
No / 477 subjects / 95.4%
Looking at the results shown in Table 14, there was 95.4% of the samples did not even aware on the contents of the toothpastes that were used while only a few (4.6%) of them were look into the contents. Therefore, we can see that majority of the Chennai citizens were not aware on the content of cleaning agents used.
Do you think it is necessary to choose the flavor of toothpaste wisely?
Table 15
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 79 subjects / 15.8%
No / 421 subjects / 82.4%
82.4% of the samples did not feel that the flavor of toothpaste and toothbrush is a significant aspect in choosing their oral cleaning agents. But, there are still 15.8% were thinking that brand is an important aspect in choosing theirs.
Do you like to switch your current toothpaste flavor if you get some scientific quality of charcoal flavor?
Table 16
Items / Frequency / PercentageYes / 483 / 96.6%
No / 17 / 3.4%
“Yes” as answer has been selected by majority of the samples which is 96.6% as shown in Table 16 while “No” is only 3.4%. It shows that the society would have a great awareness on their oral health.
Regarding the opinion, there are many good ideas given in order to increase the awareness among society towards charcoal content in toothpaste. This proved that most people in the society in Chennai has positive response on charcoal as cleaning agents but yet still have lack of information on it.
DISCUSSION
In India, data on awareness of charcoal content in oral cleaning agents is not available, henceforth present study is intended to provide information and create awareness regards to the society from various backgrounds from some selected areas in Chennai. 500 subjects have been chosen from five selected areas represent the society in Chennai.