A study on Korean workers’ practice of brushing teeth after lunch / 대한구강보건학회지

ABSTRACT

Objectives@#The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean workers’ practice of brushing teeth after lunch, and to provide basic data for the formulation of oral health promotion policies for the Korean workers. @*Methods@#We performed a cross-sectional study using the data from the Sixth (2013-2015) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, VI-1,2,3). The variables included oral health behavior (i.e., tooth brushing after lunch), demographic factors, and socioeconomic factors. The study analyzed 8,800 workers from Korea. Complex samples were analyzed through chi-square analysis and logistic regression. @*Results@#The rate of practice of brushing teeth after lunch among Korean workers was 51.6%. Among managers, experts, and office workers, it was the highest at 66.4%, while simple laborers had the lowest rate of 23.6%. The odds ratio of not brushing teeth after lunch was 3.0 times higher among agriculture, fishery workers, and simple laborers than that of managers, experts, and office workers. In addition, the odds ratios of the habit in day laborers were 3.1 times higher than in the commercial workers. All variables were statistically significant. @*Conclusions@#Poor working conditions contribute to reduced practice of brushing teeth after lunch. Therefore, a modified working environment for workers, such as day laborers and simple laborers, is required to improve their oral health behavior. In addition, it is necessary to prepare oral health promotion programs that take into account the occupational characteristics of workers.