Oral Health Behaviors among Adults and Children in Taiwan:A Transitional Comparison between 2001 and 2005

Oral Health Behaviors among Adults and Children in Taiwan:

A Transitional Comparison between 2001 and 2005

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the transition of oral health behaviors among adults and children during 2001and 2005. Method: Data of consecutive waves of National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) in 2001and 2005, with a sample size of 21,571 and 22,087 respectively, were analyzed with cross tabulation and logistic regression to examine the transition of participants' oral health behaviors, causes of dental visits and their related factors. Results: The overall tooth brushing rate (at least twice a day) of the whole population was 73.9% in 2005. The average frequency of tooth brushing per day and the share of various dental cleaning materials has all increased moderately during 2001 and 2005. As to the reasons for visiting dental clinic, the proportion for scaling has significantly increased between 2001 and 2005, for those aged above 12 years old. The logistic regression analysis showed that the practice of dental health protection, including frequent tooth brushing, tooth brushing at bed time, use of dental floss and gargling, were highly associated with the use of preventive dental services. Conclusion: Oral health behaviors among adults and children have significantly improved during 2001and 2005. It is suggested that people not using dental services for the previous year or people with dental visits just for treatment should be identified as the prioritized target group for public health nurses to provide dental examination or oral health education.