Change Of Oral Health Behabior Among Hong Kong Students From 12 Through 15 To 18 Years Old

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the change of oral health behavior among Hong Kong students from 12 through 15 to 18 years old. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted among 12-year-old students in Hong Kong. These students were randomly selected and followed-up in their 15 and 18 years old. The data of oral health behavior which included frequency of tooth brushing and use of fluoride toothpaste were collected by self-completed questionnaires. The frequency of tooth brushing was classified into “less than twice a day” and “at least twice a day”. Use of fluoride toothpaste was divided as “yes” and “no or not sure”. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (UW 15-178). The work described in this abstract was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. 17115916). Results: 282 participants completed three rounds of surveys. Related-sample Cochrane’s Q test were employed to analyze the data. The percentage of students who used fluoride toothpaste increased significantly from 37.9% to 57.0% during these six years (P < 0.001). However, the percentage of adolescents who brushed their teeth at least twice a day dropped from 74.8% to 70.1% though this change was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Our findings showed that the students of 18 years old had developed better habit and knowledge on the use of fluoride toothpaste compared with that when they were 12 years old. The promotion of oral health care and the reinforcement of oral health instruction should be continued among adolescents in Hong Kong.