Original Article

The correlation between tooth brushing habit and familial education level in Turkish young population

10.5455/gulhane.184485

  • Elif Aybala Oktay
  • Akın Alper
  • Fulya Toksoy Topçu
  • Huseyin Tort

Received Date: 09.04.2015 Accepted Date: 10.11.2015 Gulhane Med J 2016;58(4):329-333

The aim of this study is to asses the prevalence of daily tooth brushing among young adults in turkish subpopulation and evaluate some variables associated. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 645 young adults 19 to 29 years old in Ankara, Turkey.. Information of some variables like parents’ education level, socioeconomic indicator, oral hygiene habits and attitudes were collected through a questionnaire. The frequency of tooth brushing was categorized into eight groups. Chi-square test was used for analysis.The mean age was 20,72. The frequency of once a day tooth brushing was 18,3% (n=118), multiple times tooth brushing on a day’s frequency was 6.4%(n=41) and beginning regularly tooth brushing after joining military was 23.1% (n=149). The prevelance of tooth brushing (p<0.05) among the young adults, who have more educated parents, was higher. There was statistically significant difference between tooth brushing fequency of young adults and their economic status (p<0.05). Parents’ and person’s maximum level of schooling (as an indicator of socio-economic position) was associated with higher frequency of tooth brushing. And there was a correlation between tooth brushing frequency and person’s average earning. Parents are being role model for the oral health behavior of their children.

Keywords: tooth brushing, young adults, parents