earticle

영어

The purpose of this study is to find out the awareness on oral hygiene by the adult population in Busan. For this purpose a survey to examine the method of brushing their teeth, the frequency of brushing, the frequency of eating snacks and the types thereof, presence of smoking or drinking behaviors, etc. It is the intent of this study to contribute to the enhancement of the awareness and knowledge on oral hygiene held by the adults. Firstly, as for the oral health, the average satisfaction level was 2.54, which was below average. By the age groups and the current oral health conditions, the differences shown among the sub groups were statistically significant. The group aged from 40 to 45 (M=2.83) had a higher level of satisfaction on their systematic health compared to other groups such as 50~55 (M=2.48) and 46~49 years old group (M=2.47) (F=2.715, p<.05) By the professions, the office workers (M=2.84) had the highest satisfaction level, followed by the unemployed or house wives (M=2.64) (F=2.270, p<.05) Secondly, as for the smoking habits, 74.8% (237 interviewees) answered ‘Never.’ In terms of drinking behavior, 51.1% (162 interviewees) answered they drink ‘occasionally.’ The frequency of eating snacks appeared to be ‘once a day’ with the largest portion of the subject groups, 164 interviewees (51.7%) It was also revealed that the females had a higher tendency of eating snacks then males. Thirdly, the frequency of the brushing was, for the majority of the subjects, ‘twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening,’ given by 141 interviewees (44.5%) The differences by gender, educational backgrounds, profession, and the age group were statistically significant. In case of the females, they appeared to have a tendency of more frequent brushing. In terms of the ages, people tended to brush their teeth less as they get older. It appeared that the higher education level lead to more frequent brushing of their teeth, as well. As for the question when the people visited a dentist for treatment, most of the interviewees, 240 of them, answered that the see a dentist when ‘they feel a pain or discomfort in the teeth.’ (75.7%) It was followed by ‘when they discovered a cavity,’ showing that most of the people visited a dentist when they feel a pain or discover a cavity in their teeth. For the reason why they feel intimidated by the dental treatment, 87 (38.5%) pointed to the economic burden of the treatment. This tendency had statistically significant differences by gender and age subgroups. In case of the males, economic burden seemed to be of high importance, with the same tendency in the female group. Thus, it is envisaged that it is necessary to remind the males of the importance of the dental treatment, while for the female it would be more important to help them overcome the fear of dental treatment.