Oral health literacy and socio-demographics as determinants of oral health status and preventive behavior measures in participants of a pre-marriage counseling program.

Maryam Fazli,Ahmad Reza Shamshiri,Simin Zahra Mohebbi,Reza Yazdani,Russell Kabir

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0258810

Maryam Fazli, Ahmad Reza Shamshiri + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258810

Copy DOI

Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Nov 5, 2021
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

This analytical cross-sectional study aimed to assess the correlation of oral health literacy (OHL) and oral health status and behavior in participants of a pre-marriage counseling program. Also, it aimed to determine the target population’s OHL needs to design necessary interventions. A total of 828 couples with a mean age of 24.22 years participating in a pre-marriage counseling program were evaluated. Data were collected using the oral health literacy-adult questionnaire (OHL-AQ). Clinical oral examinations were performed to measure the gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and DMFT. The mean OHL score of the couples was 7.86±3.83 out of 17; while, the mean DMFT score was 6.30±5.73. After controlling for the confounders, OHL had a significant correlation with the frequency of dental visits, and smoking status, and inverse correlation with the number of decayed teeth and missing teeth, and PI, and GI (p<0.05). The current results highlight the necessity of OHL interventions to fill the existing gaps. This is an unmet need of the couples, and such interventions are required to promote their own oral health as well as the oral health of their future children.

Highlights

In the recent years, knowledge about the oral health literacy (OHL) for promotion of oral health has increased
This analytical cross-sectional study comprised the first phase of a 4-phase project named “Save Couples’ Smile” that was started in 2018 on young couples participating in pre-marriage counseling programs in Zanjan, the capital city of a province with 1 million population located in the north-west of Iran
The findings showed that participants with inadequate OHL had higher frequency of dental visits due to toothache as well as emergency dental treatments

Summary

Introduction

Knowledge about the oral health literacy (OHL) for promotion of oral health has increased. OHL is a key element in strategy planning for oral health promotion [1, 2]. Attempts are ongoing to integrate the concept of OHL into practice and oral health research [1]. Healthy People 2010 defines the OHL as the “degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic oral health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions”. Patients with poor OHL have higher frequency of carious teeth and extracted teeth, and higher prevalence of periodontal disease [4, 5]. Evidence shows considerably high prevalence of inadequate OHL in adults [6,7,8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion