The mouth is the mirror of systemic health or disease. Oral manifestations of systemic disease are potential indicators of the underlying conditions. Many systemic diseases have oral manifestations, and it is essential to recognize these symptoms to arrive at a proper diagnosis. Untreated or undertreated oral disorders affect an individual's quality of life significantly. They can affect the day to day activities, including the ability to chew, speak, and swallow¹. The ability to smile speak and communicate may further affect the social life of an individual². Oral health problems form significant public health problem³. Several studies have reported the close association of diseases like diabetes: cardiovascular disease, neurologic disorders, asthma with oral health^4-7.

In the current health care facilities in India, medical practitioners are socially responsible for promoting the oral health of their patients⁸. Knowing the importance of oral health on the general health and wellbeing of an individual, the clinicians must be integrated with oral health promotion^{9, 10}. To promote and impart knowledge regarding oral health to others, firstly, the doctors need to be aware of the oral cavity and its diseases¹¹. Hence this study was undertaken to study the awareness of oral health among undergraduate medical students who are future doctors.

Study design: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional questionnaire study. A self-structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used for the survey. All the questions were closed-ended, and the options were on a Likert scale (agree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree). The questionnaire was in English. The details about demography, oral hygiene measures are taken by the individuals were collected. There were 21 questions in addressing the knowledge regarding oral health, symptoms of oral diseases like gingivitis, periodontitis, dental caries, precancerous lesions, oral cancer. The reliability of the questionnaire was checked by the test and the retest method.All the students of second, third, and fourth-year MBBS studying in BLDE (DU) Shri B M Patil Medical college hospital and research center were included in the study. A total of 307 students participated in the study. All the necessary permissions were taken from the concerned authorities before commencing. The study was conducted from October to December 2019. The participation was voluntary. Questionnaires were distributed to students after the lecture class and were given 20 minutes to complete. The duly filled questionnaires were collected back from the students after the given duration. Discussion during the period was discouraged, and students were instructed to approach the investigator in case of doubts. The questionnaires thus collected were tabulated, analyzed, and subjected to statistical analysis using the chi-square test.

Among the 307, 48.53% (n=149) males and 51.4% (n=158) females participated in the study. 57.33% (n=176) of the participants were having good, 24.43% (n=75) were having fair and 18.24% (n=56) were having poor oral health awareness.

Among the 2^nd year students, 51.38% had good, 23.85% had fair, and 24.77% had poor oral health awareness. Among the 3rd year students, 54.95% had good, 24.18% had fair, and 20.88% had poor oral health awareness. Among the 4^th year students, 65.42% had good, 25.23% had fair, and 9.35% had poor oral health awareness.

The students of the 4^th year (64%) had slightly higher awareness about caries etiology than students of 2^ndyear (37%) and 3^rd year (46%); however, this difference was not statistically significant (P ˃ 0.05).

Only about 27% of the students were aware of the periodontal diseases and their effect on general health.

4^th-year students had higher awareness (73%) regarding the etiology of oral cancer than the students of 2^nd(19%) and 3^rd year (28%). This finding was statistically not significant (P ˃ 0.05). Overall, the students of the 4^th year had higher oral health awareness than students of the 2^nd and 3^rd year; however, this was not statistically significant (Table 1).

Within the limitations of the present study, it is an attempt to collect baseline data regarding the oral health awareness of undergraduate medical students. Though anonymity was adopted, the students would want to be socially desirable, and this might have affected the study results. Overall, the undergraduate students had a good awareness of oral health; however, their poor awareness regarding the etiology of dental caries and tooth loss consequences need to be addressed. These students are the prospective doctors increasing their awareness by inculcating in the curriculum or having a training program that may help. Early diagnosis and referral significantly reduce the burden on society.