OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate awareness of oral health care and health status among elderly people in nursing homes in Taiyuan. Strategies for preventing and treating oral diseases and improving the quality of life of the elderly in nursing homes were formulated on the basis of analyzed data. METHODS: A total of 359 participants from 48 nursing homes in six districts were selected randomly. Awareness, attitude, and behavior with regard to oral health care among the elderly were investigated through a survey using questionnaires and oral health examinations. Data were statistically analyzed with SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: Among the elderly in the nursing homes in Taiyuan, awareness and behavior with regard to oral health care were deficient and inappropriate, and thus professional guidance was needed. In addition to method and time of brushing teeth and bad oral habits, the oral health status of the elderly was statistically affected by age and education. Compared with the data of the Fourth National Oral Epidemiological Investigation, the number of elderly people aged 55-64 or 65-74 years who brush their teeth every day and accept oral diagnosis and treatment was lower. However, the ratios of edentulous and missing teeth without treatment were higher than the national average level for the same age groups. CONCLUSIONS The awareness and attitude of the elderly in nursing homes with regard to oral health care are unsatisfactory, and their oral health status is poor. Education on oral health care, development of good oral care habits, and regular oral health examination are essential to the maintenance of oral health in elderly people.
Aged ; Health Status ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mouth, Edentulous ; Nursing Homes ; Oral Health ; Quality of Life ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of oral health knowledge, attitude, behavior of 12-15 years old children and provide a theoretical basis of prevention. METHODS: Multi-stage stratified sampling method was used to extract four middle school students from Chongqing districts and counties (2 in the main urban area and 2 suburbs), and their oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors were investigated through questionnaires. All data were entered using Epidata and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 3 902 valid questionnaires were collected. The proportion of people who had good brushing habits was 39.7% (1 548), the average oral health knowledge accuracy rate was 58.9%, and the average oral health positive attitude was 88.6%. The number of middle school students who attended the dental experience was 54.5% (2 127), and that of the school who received oral health education was 17.5% (681). There were gender and regional differences in brushing habits. CONCLUSIONS The knowledge and behavior of oral health among 12-15-year-old middle school students in Chongqing need to be improved. Oral health education for middle school students should be strengthened, especially in rural and suburban areas.
Adolescent ; Attitude to Health ; Child ; Health Behavior ; Health Education, Dental ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Rural Population ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of job characteristics and non-regular work on the toothbrushing habit and oral check-up in Korean worker.METHODS: This study was approved for the use of raw data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KAHANES, 2016). The raw data was analyzed by complex sampling analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). Statistical significance was determined as P < 0.05.RESULTS: The non-regular workers had lower rate of toothbrushing more than twice a day, toothbrushing after lunch, and oral check-up than regular workers. Compared to non-regular workers, the odds ratio of toothbrushing and oral check-up at regular workers increased by 1,464 and 1,717 times, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to find specific directions to expand the oral check-up program so that all workers, including non-regular workers and part-time workers.
Korea ; Lunch ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate factors related to the periodontal health of 12-year-old children.METHODS: In 2015, the Korean Children's Oral Health Survey from the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare conducted a nationwide representative sample comprised of 23,702 12-year-old children. The calibration-trained dentists examined the gingivitis and dental calculus of the children taking into consideration of the Löe and Silness gingival index to diagnose gingivitis with a modified gingivitis scale. We used questionnaires to collect data from the children on dental treatments, the experience of dental pain and gingival bleeding, self-perceived oral health, and oral health behaviors. Data were analyzed using a complex samples Chi-square test, general linear model, and logistic regression. Significance was determined at P < 0.05.RESULTS: The prevalence of gingivitis was higher among males (OR 1.57), among children with poor perception (OR 1.19), dental calculus (OR 3.68), or gingival bleeding experience (OR 2.00), and among children not using dental floss (OR 1.69) or tongue cleaner (OR 1.90). The prevalence of dental calculus was higher among children with gingivitis (OR 3.82) and among children who had not visited a dental clinic in the preceding year (OR 1.31). However, dental calculus was lower among children with a higher frequency of daily toothbrushing (OR 0.75), intake of cariogenic foods (OR 0.90), or a higher DMFT index (OR 0.91).CONCLUSIONS: Children with dental calculus and gingival bleeding who did not visit a dental clinic in the preceding year also had a higher prevalence of gingivitis and dental calculus. The prevalence of children's dental calculus was lower among children with a high frequency of daily toothbrushing.
Child ; Dental Calculus ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Devices, Home Care ; Dentists ; Gingivitis ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Oral Health ; Periodontal Index ; Prevalence ; Social Welfare ; Tongue ; Toothbrushing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of a toothbrush with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on periodontitis-associated dental biofilm attached to a zirconia surface by static and dynamic methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Zirconia disks (12 mm diameter, 2.5 mm thickness) were inserted into a 24-well plate (static method) or inside a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biofilm reactor (dynamic method) to form dental biofilms using Streptococcus gordonii and Fusobacterium nucleatum. The disks with biofilm were subdivided into five treatment groups-control, commercial photodynamic therapy (PDT), toothbrush alone (B), brush with LED (BL), and brush with LED+erythrosine (BLE). After treatment, the disks were agitated to detach the bacteria, and the resulting solutions were spread directly on selective agar. The number of viable bacteria and percentage of bacterial reduction were determined from colony counts. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to visualize alterations in bacterial morphology. RESULTS: No significant difference in biofilm formation was observed between dynamic and static methods. A significant difference was observed in the number of viable bacteria between the control and all experimental groups (P < 0.05). The percentage of bacterial reduction in the BLE group was significantly higher than in the other treated groups (P < 0.05). SEM revealed damaged bacterial cell walls in the PDT, BL, and BLE groups, but intact cell walls in the control and B groups. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that an LED toothbrush with erythrosine is more effective than other treatments in reducing the viability of periodontitis-associated bacteria attached to zirconia in vitro.
Agar ; Bacteria ; Biofilms ; Cell Wall ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Dihydroergotamine ; Erythrosine ; Fusobacterium nucleatum ; In Vitro Techniques ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Photochemotherapy ; Streptococcus gordonii ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (waist circumference, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and hypertension) and periodontitis in Korean adults aged 35–79 years. METHODS: In this study, data from the Sixth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2013–2015) were analyzed. Among the 22,948 participants of the Sixth KNHANES, 8,314 participants, who were aged 35–79 years and had completed all systemic and oral health examinations and questionnaires, were included in this study. Confounding variables associated with the demographics and socioeconomic status and systemic and oral health-related behaviors were age, gender, household income, the educational level, smoking and drinking habits, the physical activity status, and frequency of daily toothbrushing. The independent variables were components of MetS, and the dependent variable was periodontitis. RESULTS: Periodontitis was diagnosed in 37.0% of the participants. The incidence of periodontitis among participants with MetS was 47.9%. The incidences of periodontitis among participants with three, four, and five components of MetS were 44.8%, 50.0%, and 56.2%, respectively. The odds ratio (OR) for periodontitis among participants with MetS was 1.43 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27–1.61). The participants with three, four, and five components of MetS showed a significantly higher OR for periodontitis than those with no components of MetS (three components, OR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.36; four components, OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.14–1.59; five components, OR=1.68, 95% CI: 1.29–2.20). CONCLUSIONS: A higher number of components of MetS augments the OR of periodontitis.
Adult ; Cholesterol ; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology) ; Demography ; Drinking ; Epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Incidence ; Lipoproteins ; Motor Activity ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Oral Health ; Periodontitis ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Toothbrushing

The purpose of this study was to focus on the number of brushing strokes among the performance factors and identify if the 10 times stroke of the rolling method is rational. Moreover, we evaluated the changes in oral health knowledge, perception, and behavior after our rolling method instruction. The 10-stroke method of toothbrushing has been regarded as an effective method of removal of dental plaque, although there is little evidence to support this claim. We allocated 40 healthy subjects to two intervention groups. During five visits, we measured a score for dental plaque removal and instructed the subjects on a toothbrushing technique with 5 or 10 strokes per section. At the initial and final visits, subjects completed a questionnaire on one designed specifically for this study about oral health knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare the dental plaque removal score between the groups, and the changes in scores within each group over time. We also compared changes in mean scores in oral health knowledge, perceptions and behaviors before and after toothbrushing instruction. We found that the score for dental plaque removal increased with each additional toothbrushing instruction in both groups (p < 0.001). However, we found no differences in the dental plaque removal scores between the 5-stroke and 10-stroke groups (p=0.399). The levels of oral health knowledge, perceptions and behaviors increased after the toothbrushing instructions in both groups. Our findings suggest that there is no advantage in emphasizing the 10-stroke method of toothbrushing in an oral health education program.
Dental Plaque ; Education* ; Health Education ; Healthy Volunteers ; Methods ; Oral Health ; Stroke* ; Toothbrushing*

To improve the oral health status of Korean people, it is necessary to encourage proper oral hygiene management habits, such as toothbrushing, through appropriate health promotion techniques. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the removal of plaque and tooth abrasion using ultra-soft (filament 0.11~0.12 mm) and soft toothbrushes for toothbrushing. The plaque removal was performed using a dentiform and Arti-spray, and the Patient Hygiene Performance (PHP) index was calculated as the sum total score divided by the total number of surfaces. In the abrasivity experiment, according to the number of brushings, a micro Vickers hardness tester was used, and a sample in the range of 280~380 Vickers hardness number was selected. The number of toothbrushing stroke were 1,800 (2 months), 5,400 (6 months), 10,800 (12 months), and 21,600 (24 months). The tooth abrasion was measured using a scanning electron microscope. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 and a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. According to the results, there was no statistically significant difference in the degree of plaque removal between ultra-soft and soft toothbrushes. The difference in tooth abrasion between before and after toothbrushing was found to be greater with the soft toothbrushes than with the ultra-soft toothbrushes. Therefore, the ultra-soft toothbrush not only lowers tooth damage by reducing tooth abrasion, but also shows a similar ability to remove plaque as soft toothbrushes.
Dental Plaque ; Hardness ; Hardness Tests ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Stroke ; Tooth Abrasion* ; Tooth* ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to contribute to the development of an oral health education program on organized professional toothbrushing by determining its effects on plaque control in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. METHODS: The subjects in the experimental group participated in the professional toothbrushing and oral health education weekly for 4 weeks, and those in the control group participated in the same program without professional toothbrushing education. RESULTS: The difference in knowledge, attitude, and behaviors on oral health was higher among the experimental group who underwent professional toothbrushing and oral health education program than those in the control group. The effects of toothbrushing time on the plaque index were significantly lower in experimental group than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that adequate oral health and professional toothbrushing education program should be implemented to improve oral health.
Education ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Toothbrushing

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the relationship between oral hygiene and health status and radiationinduced mucositis among patients with head and neck cancer over an 8-week period. METHODS: We recruited 40 patients with head and neck cancer scheduled to receive radiation therapy (RT), and 25 patients were included in the study. Before commencing RT, a dentist examined the patients for plaque, and determined the gingival index and pocket depth. A dental hygienist assessed the patients for radiation-induced mucositis once weekly, for 8 weeks, during RT. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 60.96 (±8.47) years, and 21 (87.5%) patients were male. Twenty patients (83.3%) had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with cancer located in the head region had more severe mucositis than those with cancer in the neck region, but this was not significant statistically (P=0.053). However, toothbrushing frequency, plaque, gingival index, and pocket depth were not related to radiation-induced mucositis. During RT, the severity of mucositis significantly worsened compared to that at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Mucositis severity worsened during RT, but this was not related to oral hygiene and health status among patients with head and neck cancer.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Dental Hygienists ; Dentists ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head ; Humans ; Male ; Mucositis ; Neck ; Oral Health ; Oral Hygiene ; Periodontal Index ; Radiotherapy ; Toothbrushing