The Reported Frequency of Toothbrushing as Related to the Prevalence of Dental Caries in New Mexico*

A combined dental and sociologic investigation was carried out in Leeuwarden, a non-fluoridated town in the north of the Netherlands. A large group of 14-15-year-old schoolchildren was clinically examined. To collect data on attitude, knowledge and behavior regarding dental health, the children were asked to fill out a precoded questionnaire. The mothers of the children were interviewed on these subjects. The sociocultural variables correlated slightly with the caries experience of the children. Only 13% of the variance in caries experience within the group of children could be explained by the independent variables. The single best predictor of the caries experience appeared to be the dental status of the mothers. Though human behavior is supposed to be a strong causal factor in the etiology of caries, this relation was not found in our investigation, just as it is absent in many other studies. The main conclusion is that surveys to estimate the relation between caries and sociocultural variables are of little value.

mentioning

confidence: 98%

How successful are surveys on the relationship between caries and sociocultural variables?

Tijmstra

1981

“…Common indicators of the occurrence of the dental caries have been DMF or DMFS indices (1,5,6,11,16,21). Here the information about the toothbrushing has been cross-sectional whet-eas data about the occurrence of dental decay (DMF index) is longitudinal in nature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between reported toothbrushing and dental caries in adults

Rajala

Seläinaho

Paunio

1980

The relationship of toothbrushing to dental decay has remained unclear. In the present study an effort was made to throw more light on this problem. Clinical and interview data were obtained from 212 males. Potential confounding risk indicators were controlled by a multivariate confounder summarizing score. In general it was found that the values of caries prevalence indicator were consistently higher for sporadic toothbrushers. It was concluded that the current study provides evidence in favor of a positive association between toothbrushing and low caries prevalence.

“…have been critieized (9) as the study approach appears to be indirect. While most studies have shown no relationship (1,2,5) at least one has shown a negative relationship (3) and others a positive relationship (4, 6, 10). However, as toothcleaning is still widely believed to prevent caries, further studies to verify this relationship need to be continued under different settings.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of the relationship between oral cleanliness and dental caries status have yielded mixed results (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Several factors have been identified which contribute to these contrasting results so far reported.…”

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confidence: 99%

Social factors and oral hygiene habits among caries free children in a low fluoride area in Sri Lanka

Warnakulasuriya

1988

The relationship of toothcleaning habits and caries free status of a group of 13-16-yr-old children who were not subjected to any caries preventive measures in Sri Lanka were studied. Despite lack of prevention, 31% of the subjects were caries free, and a higher proportion of these were boys. All subjects reported brushing their teeth at least once a day. The study failed to show any relationship between either brushing frequency or the use of brush or finger for toothcleaning, and caries. Although social status by father's employment was not related to the caries status, it was seen that a higher proportion of children of employed mothers' were caries free. Significant differences in oral hygiene habits except brushing frequency were noted among different social groups.