Social ranking effects on tooth-brushing behaviour

Oral health status and knowledge of only and non-only children in China

Objectives To evaluate the oral health status and knowledge of only children (OC) and non-only children (NOC), and to explore potential reasons for the differences.Materials and methods This cross-sectional sampling survey included 3,731 children between the ages of 12 and 15 years. The oral health of the subjects was examined, according to the Basic Methods of Oral Health Survey (fifth edition) recommended by the World Health Organisation, and their eating habits, oral health knowledge and oral habits were recorded. EpiData software was used to input data, and SPSS version 19.0 software was used for analysis and comparison.Results The incidence of dental caries and the decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMFT) in OC (53.2% and 1.53, respectively) were significantly lower than those in NOC (56.2% and 1.86, respectively) (P <0.05). These values were highest in female NOC (63.7%). Gingival bleeding in NOC (78.9%) was significantly higher than that in OC (74.1%) and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The pit and fissure sealant rate of the OC (17.9%) was better than that of the NOC (11.0%), and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). There were no significant differences in the oral health attitudes between the two groups, while the scores of the OC were higher than that of the NOC on eight questions of oral health knowledge and awareness, with statistically significant differences for five of the questions (P <0.05). In terms of oral behavioural habits and related factors, the OC scored better than the NOC.Conclusions Our results show that the oral health status of NOC, especially female children, is worrying. When formulating health-related policies, it is necessary to consider these inequalities in adolescents and to provide more resources to the relatively vulnerable adolescents.

The investigation of synergistic activity of protamine with conventional antimicrobial agents against oral bacteria

In this study, we applied protamine, which is an antimicrobial peptide, to oral healthcare in combination with conventional antimicrobial agents. First, we explored the antimicrobial activity of protamine, with or without other antimicrobial agents, against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). Co-treatment with protamine and 3-methyl-4-isopropylphenol (IPMP) decreased the viability of S. mutans synergistically within 10 min. Interestingly, sodium fluoride (NaF) did not exhibit synergistic activity with protamine. Next, S. mutans and Streptococcus gordonii (S. gordonii) were co-treated with protamine and IPMP for 5 min to simulate tooth brushing. As a result, this co-treatment killed S. mutans faster than S. gordonii. Therefore, co-treatment with protamine and IPMP could be incorporated into oral healthcare products to prevent dental caries.

Exploration of brushing behavior among university students in Iran: a qualitative research

Background Currently, it is estimated that 40% of the Iranian population is less than 20 years old, and in the academic year of 2011-2012 about 4 million students of that age were educated. The general assessment of the outcomes of oral health programs and investigating determinants is substantial for developing future plans of oral health. This study was done with the aim of exploring brushing behavior among university students of Iran to specify and understand the important determinants of oral health behavior. Methods A qualitative research method was used. This study was conducted between August and November 2016 in Shahid Beheshti University. Maximum variation sampling was used among university attendees and 44 students with more than 2 years of study duration were selected to be included in the research. Semi-structured interviews were employed for data gathering. All of the recorded interviews and notes were accurately evaluated and data analysis was performed based on the content analysis. Results As a result of the interview analysis 16 main categories emerged: Religious Beliefs, Perceived Benefits, Perceived Barriers, Habitation, Salience of Behavior, Education, Subjective Norms, Peer Pressure, Observational Learning, Knowledge, Perceived Susceptibility, Perceived Severity, Outcome Expectation, Skills, Perceived Self-efficacy, and Perceived Behavioral Control. Codes of sub-theme and theme were identified in the study. Conclusion This present study provides additional evidence with respect to the religious beliefs and the impact of religious instructions in brushing among students. Salience of brushing behavior has been described as one of the structures in an integrated behavioral model. Despite earlier studies suggesting, that peer pressure only plays a role on children's brushing behavior, our study showed that peer pressure is effective on adults as well.