OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of regular oral health care using Watanabe's tooth brushing method on aggressive periodontitis. METHODS: A 14-year-old female visited our clinic with the chief complaint of gingival swelling and teeth mobility in 2008. The present illness on the day of visit was gingivitis with swelling and redness on marginal gingiva, root exposure due to the attachment loss and gingival recession and the degree 3 mobility of #26, 36, 46 with no systemic disease and familial tendency. The panoramic radiograph showed the severe vertical and horizontal alveolar bone loss in the first molars. For the treatment, preventive care including tooth brushing instruction and professional tooth brushing using Watanabe's method and periodontal treatment using scaling and root planing, plaque control and antibiotics prescription were performed from the July, 2008 to September, 2012. RESULTS: The patient could maintain all of her teeth without extraction except for one molar during the treatment period and symptoms of gingivitis decreased all over the oral region. But dental plaque level was not decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The regular oral health care with professional toothbrushing by Watanabe's method was effective in relieving the gingival inflammation of patients with aggressive periodontitis.
Aggressive Periodontitis ; Alveolar Bone Loss ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Dental Plaque ; Female ; Gingiva ; Gingival Recession ; Gingivitis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Molar ; Oral Health ; Prescriptions ; Root Planing ; Tooth ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to look at elementary school student parents' recognition of pit and fissure sealant, national health insurance application and recognition of and attitude toward dental hygienist's treatment for pit and fissure sealant. METHODS: The subject of study was parents of children in the 3rd and 4th grades at an elementary school in Jeonju city. To consider those parents' socio-economic factors of elementary school grade level classified by Education Office, 'A: highest socio-economic' level and 'D: lowest socio-economic' level, elementary school student parents were surveyed. In this study, a set of questionnaire was distributed to student's parents, a total of 23 questions on recognition and attitude for pit and fissure sealant by national health insurance system, treatment of sealing by dental hygienist. The statistical analysis of the data collected was done by using SPSS 12.0. RESULTS: Of the student parents, the percentage of those who recognized that national health insurance covers the pit and fissure sealant was 36.9% only. The percentage of parents who did not know was larger than that of those who knew. Of the student parents, those who had once or more received treatment of the pit and fissure sealant by dental hygienist were highly satisfied and their attitude were also very positive about dental hygienist's ability to operate the pit and fissure sealant. CONCLUSIONS: The higher the recognition rate of pit and fissure sealant can be covered national insurance system, the lesser consumer's burden.
Child ; Dental Hygienists ; Humans ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; National Health Programs ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The study assessed the status of Child-Oral Impact on Daily Performances (C-OIDP) and association between socio-economic status (SES) and C-OIDP in Korean children. METHODS: The study population was the citizens of Gangneung, aged 4-10 year-old, who were registered at a preschool and primary school. Finally, 1,943 among 2,489 finished the question and response (response rate 74.3%). The children completed the C-OIDP by a face-to-face interview or self-response questions evaluation. The ethic approval of the study protocol was approved form GWNUDH-IRB. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of the participants answered that they had difficulties on their daily performances from oral health. Problem with cleaning of the mouth was the most frequent performance to be reported and the percentage of the children who had this experience was 20.7%. Fifteen percent of the participants answered that they had difficulties on their daily performances from oral health on a daily basis. Among the children who experienced difficulties on daily performances from oral health on a daily basis, 59.3% of the difficulties on daily performances were moderate or severe effect. Lower SES was significantly associated with the rate of their daily performances from oral health. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the status of C-OIDP in Korean children. It is suggested to establish the oral health strategy to school-based oral health promotion program. Future longitudinal research is required to determine the specific role to the relation between SES and OHRQoL for children.
Aged ; Child ; Humans ; Mouth ; Oral Health ; Parents

OBJECTIVES: The principle purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of oral health-related behaviors by a type of school among high school students in Gangneung city. The secondary purpose was to assess the influences of other factors (father's education status, mother's education status, subjective economic status, FAS, experienced part-time job, pocket money and perceived stress) on these differences. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 1,282 high school students was conducted in Gangneung city. The response rate was 93.4%; general high school students were 773 and vocational high school students were 509. The data were collected by self-administered structured questionnaires. The differences of oral health-related behaviors of high school students by school type were assessed by a chisquare test. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the influences of other factors on these differences. RESULTS: Oral health-related behaviors were markedly better in students attending general high school, rather than vocational high school (P<0.001). The differences of oral health-related behaviors by school type were persisted after adjusting for gender (Model 1), socio-economic factors (Model 2), part-time job and pocket money (Model 3), psychological variables (Model 4) and all variables (Model 5), except for visiting a dental clinic. CONCLUSIONS: We found a marked influence of school type in oral health-related behaviors. This finding suggests that school type is a risk factor of oral health-related behaviors in high school students. Therefore, one of the best ways to enhance oral health for high school students is to develop oral health promotion programs for vocational high school students.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVES: This study is performed to evaluate the salivary secretion, salivary pH and cariogenic activity in head and neck cancer patients. METHODS: Thirty patients (26 male, 4 female) who had head and neck cancer and were treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and 28 normal volunteers (9 male, 19 female) as a control were included. The mean age of the patients group and control group were 55.9 years and 51.6 years, respectively. The patients group was examined of salivary secretion, salivary pH, and cariogenic activity, and was compared with the control group. RESULTS: In comparison with the control group, salivary secretion, salivary pH and cariogenic activity were lower, significantly, in head and neck cancer patients (P<0.01). There are negative correlations between cariogenic activity and salivary secretion (r=-0.364, P<0.01), cariogenic activity and salivary pH (r=-0.534, P<0.01) in head and neck cancer patients, and cariogenic activity and salivary pH (r=-0.413, P<0.05) in the control group. There are positive correlations between salivary pH and salivary secretion (r=0.409, P<0.01) in head and neck cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that salivary secretion and salivary pH are reduced; cariogenic activity is increased in head and neck cancer patients. Such salivary factor and cariogenic activity can increase the possibility of induction of dental caries.
Dental Caries ; Head ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Male ; Saliva

OBJECTIVES: Dental amalgam is a widely used filling material for oral cavity. The released mercury vapor from amalgam could have systemic adverse effects potentially. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between dental amalgam and urinary mercury levels in children during a 6-month timespan. METHODS: A total of 525 elementary school children participated in this study. Oral examination was carried out from one dentist. Urine samples collected at baseline and at 6 month were analyzed for mercury and creatinine excretion. Additionally, general characteristics of subjects were surveyed by a questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: Greater amalgam surfaces were associated to higher urinary mercury levels; this tendency was similar at the 6-month observation after the correct baseline data. In the multivariable model, urinary mercury excretion was only associated with amalgam surfaces positively. CONCLUSIONS: Even a small amount of mercury uptake from dental amalgam has been associated to increase the mercury concentration of urine.
Child ; Creatinine ; Dental Amalgam ; Dentists ; Diagnosis, Oral ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mouth ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the caries preventive effects of oral health programs composed of pit and fissure sealant and community water fluoridation in Hapcheon-Up, Hapcheon-Gun, the Republic of Korea. METHODS: Dental surveys were conducted on 6 to 14 year old children at Hapcheon-Up, Hapcheon-Gun in 2000 and 2009, respectively. The number of the subjects was 1,957 and 1,535 children in 2000 and 2009, respectively. The percentage of samples among total population aged 6 to 14 years in 2000 and 2009 was 90.6% and 92.3%, respectively. The obtained data from these surveys were analyzed with the PASW statistical package version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The 2009 dental health data including the prevalence of dental caries and fissure sealants on children's permanent teeth was compared to the 2000 dental health data, and assessed using chi-square test and independent-sample t-test. RESULTS: DMF rate of 12-year olds was 76.9% in 2000, and it significantly decreased to 42.5% in 2009. DMFT index of 12-year olds was 3.03 in 2000, and it significantly decreased to 1.07 in 2009. The prevalence rate of sealed permanent teeth among the 12-year olds was 15.4% in 2000, and it significantly increased to 97.2% in 2009. The caries reduction rate from pit and fissure sealant added by community water fluoridation program was calculated as 44.7% in 12-year olds by the difference of DMFT index between 2000 and 2009 year. Logistic regression analysis revealed that both programs were associated with an increasing likelihood of experiencing no dental caries (OR=4.00, 95% CI; 3.23-4.95). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the oral health program composed of pit and fissure sealant and community water fluoridation in Hapcheon was very effective in caries prevention. The program should be expanded to other area to prevent dental caries among children.
Aged ; Chicago ; Child ; Dental Caries ; DMF Index ; Fluoridation ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Pit and Fissure Sealants ; Prevalence ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to evaluate the correlation between self-reported oral health and caries experience, and to find out factors that affect perceived oral health status and treatment need in Korean male soldiers aged 18 to 24. METHODS: The cross-sectional oral health examination and questionnaire survey about the attitude of oral health were conducted (n=2,436). The survey contained self-reported oral health status, self-reported dental treatment need and associated factors. RESULTS: Caries experience like DMFT, DT, FT, and MT indices were significantly different by selfreported oral health status, as well as the self-perceived dental treatment need (P<0.005). Experience rates of 'tooth pain', 'periodontal pain', 'tooth hypersensitiveness', 'gingival bleeding', 'tooth cavity', 'oral malodor', 'need prophylaxis', 'former dental treatment', 'smoking' and 'scaling' were different by selfreported oral health status and self-perceived dental treatment need (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Subjective oral health perception reflected objective oral health status and other oral health related factors.
Aged ; Dental Caries ; Dental Health Surveys ; Humans ; Male ; Military Dentistry ; Military Personnel ; Oral Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to analyze the factors that influence adults halitosis. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 186 adults aged from 35 to 69, between April 4 and May 30, 2012. Data were analyzed with t-test, one-way ANOVA, and binary logistic regression analysis SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: The most influential factor of VSCs was halitosis perceived by others (OR: 5.18; 95% CI: 1.82-14.70), which was followed by oral respiration (OR: 3.65; 95% CI: 1.28-10.41), and O'Leary index (OR: 3.40; 95% CI: 1.55-7.46) in the order. The influential factors of ammonia were respiratory disease (OR: 30.72; 95% CI: 1.85-51.37), gastrointestinal disease (OR: 12.28; 95% CI: 1.78-44.79), missing tooth (OR: 3.75; 95% CI: 1.57-8.92), periodontal pocket (OR: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.10-6.18), tongue brushing (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15-0.95), and oral prophylaxis (within a year) (OR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.13-0.75). CONCLUSIONS: Halitosis is the result of complex actions among individual characteristics, systematic disease, oral health state, and health behavior.
Adult ; Aged ; Ammonia ; Dental Plaque Index ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Halitosis ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Oral Health ; Periodontal Pocket ; Respiration ; Tongue ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the oral health status among some disabled persons in Jinju. METHODS: Two dentists taken calibration training from the national oral health survey examined the oral health status on 200 disabled persons in Jinju, in June 2008. The surveyed disabled persons aged 6 to 29 years have been supplied with oral health care services by dentists and oral hygienists of dental clinics established at their schools supported from Jinju Public Health Center since 2006. The data obtained from this survey were analyzed with SPSS statistical package and were compared with the data from other oral health reports on disabled persons examined in 2010 Korean Oral Health Survey by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. RESULTS: Among the disabled persons in Jinju, DMF rate was 65.00%; DMFT index, 3.10; DT rate, 39.61%; MT rate, 8.94%; and FT rate, 51.45%. DMFT indexes and DT rates of the disabled persons in Jinju were evaluated to be higher than those of the disabled persons from 2010 Korean National Oral Health Survey. CONCLUSIONS: Oral health programs should be strengthened for the prevention and treatments of dental caries for disabled persons.
Aged ; Calibration ; Dental Caries ; Dental Clinics ; Dentists ; Disabled Persons ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Public Health