We examined the relationship between Problematic Internet Use (PIU), sleep (sleep satisfaction, sleep duration), and experience of oral disease symptoms in Korean adolescents by gender. This cross-sectional study utilized the 6th (2010) Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Participants comprised 74,980 students from 400 middle schools and 400 high schools nationwide. Among these, 73,238 students from 799 schools (38,391 boys, 34,847 girls, aged 13–18 years) were included in the analysis (inclusion rate = 97.7%). Multiple logistic regression and analysis of moment structures (AMOS) analyses were performed to identify meaningful relationships between the three factors. The “high risk group” of problematic internet usage had increased experience of oral disease symptoms (boys: adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.63–2.28, girls: AOR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.50–2.63) compared to the general group. Boys who used the Internet for “5–6 h” had a higher risk of oral disease symptoms compared to those who used it for “less than 1 h” (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01–1.53); however, this difference was not significant in Models II and III. For girls, the risk of 5–6 h of use (Model I: OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.40–2.04) was higher than that of the boys. In addition, the difference was significant in Models II and III for girl students who used the Internet for 5–6 h. In subgroup analysis, the high-risk group had a higher odds ratio for mild symptoms of bad breath to severe symptoms such as sore and bleeding gums. In addition, in the path analysis, PIU affected sleep and indirectly affected oral health. Direct and indirect causal relationships between the three factors were confirmed. Therefore, it is important to recognize that PIU can have a detrimental effect on mental, physical, and oral health.

This study examined the relationship between oral discomfort and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the Korean elderly, using the datasets provided by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KHNANES) over 6 consecutive years (2010–2015). A total of 13,618 participants aged 65 years and over were included in the final analysis. A complex sample logistic regression was performed to determine the impact of oral discomfort on HRQOL. The results revealed that toothache, masticatory discomfort, and pronunciation problems caused by oral health conditions were all risk factors for decreased HRQOL. In particular, masticatory discomfort (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.63, Model III (adjusted for all covariates)) and pronunciation problems (AOR 1.64, Model III) negatively impacted the HRQOL of the elderly to a great extent. Masticatory discomfort had a stronger negative impact on HRQOL in the domains of “self-care” (AOR 1.83) and “usual activities” (AOR 1.66), while pronunciation problems had a similar impact on all five domains of the EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D). These findings could serve as baseline data for setting up early intervention programs for the timely prevention of oral health-related discomfort problems that greatly affect the QOL of the elderly population, and for the development of comprehensive and efficient dental insurance policies.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between health-risk factors and oral health in Korean adolescents. This cross-sectional study was based on the 9th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2013). The final participation rate in the survey was 96.4%. of a Total of 72,435 adolescents (age, 12∼18 years) who had participated in the survey, 66,951 adolescents (33,777 boys and 33,174 girls) were selected for analysis, after excluding those with missing data. The key variables were oral health factors (one or more of the six oral symptoms), general characteristics (five factors), and health-risk factors (five factors). After adjusting for the general characteristics, frequency analysis, χ 2 -test using PASW Statistics ver. 18.0, and logistic regression analysis were performed to understand the effects of health risk-factors on the oral symptoms experienced by the study subjects. Subjects who answered 'Yes' for alcohol consumption had a 1.33 times higher risk of experiencing oral symptoms. Further, subjects who smoked were at a 1.2 times higher risk of experiencing oral symptoms. With regard to internet use, the risk of experiencing oral symptoms was 1.25 times higher for subjects who used the internet for 7 hours or more than for those who used it for less than 1 hour. Compared to those subjects who had not experienced violence in school, the odds ratio of subjects who had experienced it 3∼4 times was 1.54-fold higher. The study found that health-risk factors were associated with oral symptom experience. Therefore, programs to understand health-risk factors and interventions should be developed for Korean adolescents and provided on a regular basis along with oral health education.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep duration and periodontitis in adult Korean women. This cross-sectional study was based on the 2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES). We selected the data from 3,292 women (over 19 years of age) out of 7,550 participants for analysis, after excluding data from men. Complex logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of sleep duration on the risk of periodontitis; the crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. The risk of periodontitis was higher in participants who had a sleep duration of 7 hours or more, than in those with less than 7 hours (crude OR) by 1.37 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13∼1.65). The adjusted OR of the participants after adjusting for the sample characteristics of the participants (age, education level, income level, diabetes, hypertension, obesity) was 1.04 times (95% CI, 0.82∼1.32), but the risk for periodontitis was slightly higher, though not statistically significant. This study confirmed the relationship between sleep duration and the risk of periodontitis in Korean women. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement a comprehensive health promotion program that can improve the proper sleeping habits of adult women in Korea and to combine oral hygiene management programs to prevent periodontal disease.

Periodontal diseases occur from the interplay between increased bacterial response and the response of the host immune system over time. Anxiety and depression can impair immunological defense mechanisms, causing accumulation of periodontopathogens and thus exacerbating periodontal disease. We investigated the relationship of anxiety and depression to periodontal diseases in Korean women. In this study, 3,551 women aged ≥19 years were evaluated based on data from the first year (2010) of the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The analysis of the factors that caused periodontal diseases revealed that dental floss or interdental toothbrush nonuse behaviors have been shown to increase the risk of periodontal disease (odds ratio [OR], 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14∼1.95). After adjusting for conditions such as age, marital status, income, educational level, economic activity, diabetes mellitus, smoking, drinking, and frequencies of toothbrushing and interdental cleaning, we found that anxiety and depression increased the risk of developing periodontal diseases (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.04∼2.09). People with anxiety and depression have a higher prevalence of periodontal diseases than people without anxiety and depression. Thus, periodic periodontal care and effective self-care education are needed to manage periodontal diseases.