Abstract
Introduction: Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health behaviors among a sample of portuguese adolescents and verify the association with socio-demographic factors, in order to analyze the main needs related with oral health education to improve oral health status among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed with a sample of 447 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old, attending a public school in Sátão, Portugal. A self-administered questionnaire was applied questioning about socio-demographic factors and oral health behaviors to each adolescent in the classroom. Prevalence was expressed in proportions and crude odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association between oral health behaviors and socio-demographic factors. Results: The prevalence of tooth brushing (twice-a-day or more) was 90.6%. Five point eight percent of adolescents reported daily flossing, more frequent among female gender (female, OR = 2.03, 95% CI = (1.35 to 3.05)) and adolescents older than 15 years (>15 years, OR = 1.90, 95% CI = (1.24 to 2.92)). Sixty-seven percent had at least one dental appointment in the previous twelve months. The prevalence of dental appointments was associated with the father’s professional situation (unemployed, OR = 0.33, 95% CI = (0.17 to 0.65)) and crowding index (>1, OR = 0.4, 95% CI = (0.16 to 0.98)). Thirty-two point nine percent of adolescents referred having at least one episode of dental pain during their lives. Conclusion: Considering the results of the present study that show the need of improvement of some aspects related with oral health among adolescents, oral health community programs and primary preventive strategies, such as improvement of oral health education in schools should be considered in order to reduce the risk level of oral diseases and develop better oral health behaviors.
Highlights
Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors
When analyzing the parents’ educational level, we verified that 4.3% had parents that only frequented school for less than the 4th grade, 53.5% stayed in school from the 5th to the 12th grade and 15.0% proceeded to a higher degree after finishing the 12th grade
Several studies evidence that adolescents with lower socio-economic status have a higher risk of developing oral diseases, namely dental caries, which is associated with worse oral hygiene habits and less frequency of routine dental appointments [17]-[19]
Summary
Oral health education is an important issue that should be given to children and adolescents, allowing the acquisition of correct oral health behaviors. Conclusion: Considering the results of the present study that show the need of improvement of some aspects related with oral health among adolescents, oral health community programs and primary preventive strategies, such as improvement of oral health education in schools should be considered in order to reduce the risk level of oral diseases and develop better oral health behaviors. Dental caries and periodontal diseases are two of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, and, simultaneously, preventable with simple primary prevention methods [1]. They are the main cause of dental loss and are considered an important public health issue that affects children, adolescents, adults and the elder. The prevalence of oral diseases is still high in some countries, mainly among developing countries, where dental caries and periodontal diseases affect all ages in an epidemic matter, and are highly associated with morbidity [3]
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