SUBJECTIVE ORAL HEALTH PERCEPTION AND CHEWING DISCOMFORT DEPENDING ON ORAL HEALTH CARE BEHAVIOR

Mi-Suk Cho*

ABSTRACT

In order to provide the baseline data for reducing chewing discomfort and improving the level of subjective oral health perception by grasping the correlation among oral health care behavior, subjective oral health status and chewing discomfort, this study utilized the data from 2015 Community Health Survey of the Gyeongnam region, which has been conducted annually by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 2008. As for the oral health care behavior, the examination rate was 22%, the experience rate for brushing after lunch was 46.7%, the scaling experience rate was 32.1%, and the rate of experiencing no dental treatment was 24.6%. The subjective oral health status depending on the oral health care behavior was higher for those who go through oral examinations, brush after lunch, and have experiences of scaling and dental treatment. The level of chewing discomfort depending on the oral health care behavior was higher for those who go through oral examinations, do not brush after lunch, and have no experiences of scaling and dental treatment. Since the levels of subjective health perception and chewing discomfort are higher when the age group is older and the area of residence is the rural area, the medical institution accessibility should be improved and methodical educational system should be established to allow for regular and continuous education.

Keywords: Oral health, chewing discomfort, oral health care behavior.