An In-Depth Analysis of the National Statistics on Oral Health

Abstract

In order to improve health, it is first necessary to investigate the current health situations and analyze the major problems; only when the problems are accurately analyzed, the solutions for the problems can be devised. The Korean Academy of Preventive Dentistry and Oral Health is actively participating in the Korea National Oral Health Survey, which is led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to investigate people’s oral health status, awareness of the importance of oral health, and oral health-related behaviors and attitudes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey and the Adolescent Health Behavior Online Survey. The Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey consists of health examinations, health interviews, and nutrition surveys, and the Academy has been participating in the survey since 2007. As the survey investigates the overall health, oral health, and nutritional status of people, various aspects, including the correlation between oral health and overall health and the relationship between nutrition intake and oral health, can be analyzed. The Adolescent Health Behavior Online Survey has been conducted since 2005. A total of 800 middle and high schools across the country are selected as sample schools; at each sample school, one class from each school year is selected as the cluster sample, and surveys on adolescent health behaviors, including oral health-related behaviors, are conducted on the cluster samples from each school. The Community Health Survey is led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare with participation of public health centers. It is conducted on adults over 19 years of age, and survey enumerators visit each household to conduct interviews aimed for investigation of the oral and overall health behaviors and attitudes. In the meantime, the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and the National Health Insurance Service organized a consortium to establish the Korea Health Panel, which investigates the status of medical care service utilization, medical expenditures, and factors affecting them. The Korea Health Panel also assesses the information on health insurance benefits as well as deductible costs, expenditures for medicine and medical supplies, and private health insurance usage. Through an in-depth analysis of the National Health Statistics, which was conducted with a high budget for an extensive investigation of the Korean national health, the correlation between oral health and overall health and the national health awareness and behaviors could be analyzed from multiple perspectives. Therefore, the results of the present study and analysis will contribute to establishing measures and policies aimed for enhancement of the national health.