Factors Affecting Preventive Dental Treatment of Adolescents in Korea

Seon-Hui Kwak,Sun-Jung Shin,Bo-Mi Shin,Soo-Myoung Bae

doi:10.3390/ijerph17144948

Abstract

We conducted a multilevel analysis to identify factors affecting adolescents’ preventive dental treatment experience in South Korea. We sampled 72,435 students who participated in the 9th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The individual-level variables were divided into demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, oral health behavioral factors, and oral symptom experience factors. The regional-level variables included oral health resources, rate of students receiving oral health education at school by region, social deprivation index, and the number of private educational institutions. A higher rate of receiving oral health education in school by region was associated with increased fluoride application (1.04 times, p = 0.003). However, the number of private educational institutes per 1000 people was negatively associated with fluoride application experienced by students (0.64 times, p = 0.039). Students underwent more scaling when there were more dentists per 10,000 individuals (1.14 times, p = 0.008) and less scaling in areas with a higher social deprivation index (0.88 times, p = 0.024). To increase the access to preventive care for oral diseases among adolescents, a preventive system should be established in schools, and a primary dental care system should be established through the cooperation of the government, private dental clinics, and schools.

Highlights

Adolescence is the period during which the differentiation of permanent teeth, which must be used lifelong, is completed and is the most appropriate time to prevent oral diseases through correct oral health behaviors and preventive treatment
This study analyzed secondary data using the results of an anonymous self-report questionnaire of 72,435 students (13- to 18-year-olds) from 800 middle and high schools nationwide participating in the 9th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS) in 2013
Professional fluoride application was more often experienced by younger adolescents, and scaling was more frequent in older adolescents (p < 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence is the period during which the differentiation of permanent teeth, which must be used lifelong, is completed and is the most appropriate time to prevent oral diseases through correct oral health behaviors and preventive treatment. It is a period with high risk for oral diseases, depending on individual factors such as the socioeconomic level of the family and eating habits, as well as environmental factors in schools and regions of residence [1,2,3]. If public transportation is limited in poor areas and there are cigarette outlets in walking distance, people’s smoking cessation practices can be negatively affected [8,9]

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Conclusion