Abstract: Abstract: Objective To know the current situation of oral health-related knowledge and attitudes among different ethnic groups of Kazakh in Xinjiang Altay region. Methods According to the third national oral health survey standards and methods, stratified random sampling method was used to investigate 489 Kazakh people in urban and rural areas of Altay. Results 18.1% of the population were able to answer correctly the number of their teeth, 56.6% were able to realize that teeth bleeding is abnormal when blushing teeth, 51.5% thought that sugar is one cause of tooth decay. The accuracy rates of these three issues by rural population were significantly lower than those by the urban population (P<0.05). As to the effect of fluoride toothpastes and whether a plaque is one of the causes of periodontitis, the accuracy rate was 28% and 6%, respectively. Although the accuracy rates of these two issues were higher by the urban population than by the rural population, the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). As to whether regular dental check is necessary, teeth conditions are inborn and have little to do with maintenance, and prevention of dental diseases is on their own, the accuracy rates were 70.5%, 58.2%, 67.7%, respectively. The accuracy rates of these three issues were significantly lower by the rural population than by the urban population (P<0.05). 85.7% of the population believed that oral health knowledge is important, and the accuracy rate by urban people was slightly higher than that by the rural population (P>0.05). Access to oral health knowledge via radio/TV accounted for the highest proportion (67.6%), while that via hospital accounted for the lowest percentage (6%). Conclusion Health awareness of oral health in different Kazakh populations of Altay region are low, so oral health education should be made from a variety of ways to popularize the oral health knowledge.

Key words: Kazakhs, oral diseases, oral health knowledge, attitudes, sources