The relationship between tooth cleaning behaviour and flexibility of working time schedule.

Abstract

This study tested whether there is a relationship between levels of flexibility of working time schedule and the pattern (frequency of tooth cleaning), structure (range of items used in tooth cleaning), and performance (relative effectiveness of tooth cleaning measured by levels of dental plaque) of tooth cleaning. 471 Brazilian workers from both sexes aged 24 to 44 years were selected from factories, offices, banks, shops and hospitals. Behavioural, socio-economic and clinical data were collected through structured interviews and clinical examination. Data analysis included frequency distribution and simple and multiple logistic regression. The response rate was 92.5%. Simple logistic regression showed there was a highly statistically significant relationship between flexibility of the working time schedule and tooth cleaning frequency, the range of oral hygiene aids used and the level of dental plaque. All 3 associations remained highly statistically significant after adjusting for age, sex, socio-economic status and marital status. Socio-economic status was statistically significantly associated with tooth cleaning frequency, the use of oral hygiene aids and the level of dental plaque. It was concluded that high flexibility of working time schedule is related to pattern, structure and performance of tooth cleaning.