Correlation between dental caries and diet, oral hygiene habits, and other indicators among elementary school students in Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan

ObjectivesTo analyze the correlations between oral health status and eating habits, oral hygiene habits, and other indicators by dental health examination and questionnaires. The target population was elementary school children in Xiulin Township, Hualien, Taiwan and the aim was the identification of the possible factors causing tooth decay.Materials and methodsA stratified purposive sampling approach was used in this study. First and fourth grade students from 11 elementary schools in Xiulin Township were selected as participants in an oral health examination during the academic year 2012 and were also asked to fill in a questionnaire. Three hundred and nineteen students were initially involved in the study and the actual number of students who completed the questionnaire and the oral examination was 277; thus the survey response rate was 86.8%. Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between the student's oral health status and the responses in the questionnaire.ResultsThe study participants from Xiulin Township have a high prevalence of dental caries as well as high indices for the following indices: decayed, extracted, and filled teeth in primary dentition (deft); decayed, missing, and filled teeth in permanent dentition (DMFT); and decayed, extracted, and filled teeth in primary dentition and decayed, missing, and filled teeth in permanent dentition (deft + DMFT). These high indices may be related to the fact that most of these children like to eat sweets and snacks, have poor oral hygiene habits, and have extremely low rates of using dental health care products. Mouth-cleaning after eating sweets, brushing after eating, and brushing for at least 3 minutes each time is able to effectively predict the deft + DMFT index of school children in Xiulin Township (R2 = 0.218, p < 0.0001).ConclusionThese findings provide information for the relevant health authorities in Taiwan with respect to ensuring an adequate distribution of dental care resources in mountainous townships and remote areas. The findings also indicate that there is a need for improved access to dental health care in these areas in the form of the presence of professional dental hygienists at every school to educate and supervise the school children to develop good oral hygiene habits.