The Influence of Oral Symptom Recognition and Oral Care Behavior on Cases of Dental Caries in High School Students

Abstract

The present study aimed to ascertain the oral health of young individuals according to their oral symptoms and oral health behaviors. In doing so, we intend to provide foundational data for the establishment of continued oral health education, which is required to make positive changes to oral health behavior. We conducted oral health examinations as well as self-report surveys for identifying oral symptoms and oral health behaviors of 288 high school students who visited the K Hospital, Busan, South Received(November 26, 2015), Review request(November 27, 2015), Review Result(1st: December 15, 2015, 2nd: December 30, 2015) Accepted(January 08, 2016), Published(January 31, 2016) 700-422 Dept. Public Health, Graduate School of Kyungpook National Univ., Dongin 2 Jung-Gu, Daegu, Korea email: namzzi52@naver.com (Corresponding Author) 614-714 Dept. Dental Hygiene, Dongeui Univ., Gaya 1-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan, Korea email: khj1126@deu.ac.kr The influence of oral symptom recognition and oral care behavior on cases of dental caries in high school students Copyright c 2016 HSST 142 Korea, between May and October 2014. In the dental health examination, the majority of the subjects had the result ‘None’ for the number of teeth showing dental caries (162 persons, 56.3%) and ‘1–4’ for the number of teeth at risk of developing dental caries (168 persons, 58.3%). Meanwhile, with respect to oral hygiene, 155 students (53.8%) were rated as ‘Excellent’ and 123 (42.7%) as ‘Hope for Improvement’. In terms of oral health behavior, 74.0% of the participants had not visited a dentist in the past year and 64.9% brushed their teeth less than twice a day. When asked about their level of consumption of sugary foods and drinks such as snacks and cola, 52.8% of the participants responded with ‘Average’, and when asked if the toothpaste they were currently using contained fluorine, the most common response (39.2%) was ‘I don’t know’. When analyzing the correlation between identification of oral symptoms, oral care behavior, and incidence of dental caries, there was a positive correlation between the number of teeth showing dental caries and oral hygiene (r=0.914, p<0.000), and there was a strong negative correlation between the number of teeth at risk of developing dental caries and the use of fluorine-containing toothpaste (r=-0.119, p<0.05) and between oral hygiene and the consumption of sugary foods (r=-0.560, p<0.000). Combining the above results, it can be seen that oral symptoms and oral care behavior in young individuals has a significant effect on dental caries. Therefore, systematic projects to promote oral health and oral health education programs need to be developed to encourage treatment and oral health care at the appropriate time and to create a positive change in oral health behavior.