Oral Hygiene Habits of 11-year-old Schoolchildren in 22 European Countries and Canada in 1993/1994

Abstract

This study is part of the Cross-National Survey on Health Behaviour in School-aged Children-a WHO Collaborative Study, which started in 1982. The aim of the study was to describe the oral hygiene habits (toothbrushing and flossing) of 11-year-old schoolchildren in 22 European countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, and Wales) and Canada. The data were collected from standardized anonymous questionnaires in school classrooms during the 1993-1994 school year. At least 1300 schoolchildren, representing the whole country, participated in the study in each country. Oral hygiene habits were analyzed according to gender, age, country, school performance, and family economy. The children brushed most favorably in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Norway (83-73% brushed twice a day). More-than-once-a-day toothbrushing was especially uncommon (from 26 to 33%) among boys in Finland, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, and Latvia. Toothbrushing frequency differed significantly according to school performance in Canada, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Poland, Northern Ireland, and Wales and between different socio-economic groups in Northern Ireland, Wales, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Poland, and Russia. Use of dental floss was rare. In general, flossing was less frequent among boys than among girls. Daily flossing was most common among Canadian adolescents (25%). In conclusion, there are considerable differences in toothbrushing frequency among children in European countries.

Keywords

toothbrushing flossing health behavior Europe Canada schoolchildren.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aarø LE , Wold B. ( 1985). Health behavior in schoolchildren. A WHO Cross-National Survey. Research protocol for the second survey 1985-86. Department of Social Psychology, University of Bergen, and WHO-Euro, Copenhagen. Aarø LE, Wold B, Kannas L, Rimpela M (1986). Health behavior in schoolchildren. A WHO cross-national survey. Health Promotion 1:17-33.

Addy M. , Hunter ML , Kingdon A. , Dummer Pmh , Shaw WC ( 1994). An 8-year study of changes in oral hygiene and periodontal health during adolescence. Int J Pediat Dent 4:75-80.

Ahlstrom S, Eskola A, Honkala E, Kannas L, Laakso L, Paronen 0, et al. (1979). The Juvenile Health Habit Study. Study design, methods and material. Publications of Public Health, Tampere (in Finnish, English summary). Ahlstrom-Laakso S (1975). Questionnaire or interview? Alkoholipolitiikka 40:203-210 (in Finnish).

Aleksejuniene J. (1995). Dental caries and caries determinants in 7-, 12- and 15-year-old Lithuanians (thesis). Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo.

Bauch J. , Dünninger P. , Eder-Debey R. , Einwag J. , Hoeltz J. , Kess K. , et al. (1991). Mundgesundheitszustand und verhalten in der Bundesrepublic Deutschland. Ergebnisse des nationalen IDZ-Survey 1989 . Koln : Deutscher Arzte-Verlag (English summary).

Bedi R. , Sutcliffe P. , Balding JW (1990). Dental health related behaviour of Scottish and English secondary schoolchildren. Community Dent Health 7:149-156.

Borutta A, Bauch J, Einwag J, Hoelzt J, Micheelis W, Potthoff P, et al. (1993). Mundgesundheitszustand und -verhalten in Ostdeutschland. Ergebnisse des nationalen IDZ-Survey 1992. Koln: Deutscher Arzte-Verlag (English summary). Eder A (1990). Risk factor loneliness. On the interrelations between social integration, happiness and health in 11-, 13- and 15-year-old schoolchildren in 9 European countries. Health Promotion Int 5:19-33.

Helakorpi S, Berg M-A, Uutela A, Puska P (1995). Health behaviour among Finnish adult population, Spring 1995. Helsinki: Publication of the National Public Health Institute, B 14/1995 (in Finnish, English summary). Heloe LA (1972). Comparison of dental health data obtained from questionnaires, interviews and clinical examination. Scand J Dent Res 80:495-499.

Hescot P. , Roland E. (1994). Dental health in France 1993. DMF score for 6-, 9- and 12-year- olds. Paris: French Union for Oral Health.

10.

Honkala E. (1984). Dental health habits of Finnish adolescents (thesis) . Kuopio, Finland: University of Kuopio.

11.

Honkala E. (1993). Oral health promotion with children and adolescents . In: Oral health promotion. Schou L , Blinkhorn AS , editors. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 169-187.

12.

Honkala E. , Rajala M. , Rimpela M. (1981). Oral hygiene habits among adolescents in Finland . Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 9:61-68.

13.

Honkala E. , Nyyssonen V. , Knuuttila M. , Markkanen H. (1986). Effectiveness of children's habitual toothbrushing . J Clin Periodontol 13:81-85.

14.

Honkala E. , Kannas L. , Rimpela M. , Wold B. , Aarø L. , Gilles P. (1988). Dental health habits in Austria, England, Finland and Norway. Int Dent J 38:131-138.

15.

Honkala E. , Kannas L. , Rise J. ( 1990). Oral health habits of schoolchildren in 11 European countries. Int Dent J 40:211-217.

16.

King A. , Wold B. , Tudor-Smith C. , Harel Y. (1996). The health of youth. A cross-national survey. A report of the 1993-94 survey results of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children: A WHO Cross-National Study. Canada: WHO Regional Publications, European Series No. 69.

17.

Kostlan J , editor (1979). Oral health services in Europe. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Publications, European Series No. 5.

18.

Kunst AE (1994). Measuring socio-economic inequalities in health. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. Kuusela S, Honkala E, Rimpela A (1996). Toothbrushing frequency between the ages of 12 and 18 years-longitudinal prospective studies of Finnish adolescents. Community Dent Health 13:34-39.

19.

Kuusela S. , Honkala E. , Rimpela A. , Karvonen S. , Rimpela M. (1997). Trends in toothbrushing frequency among Finnish adolescents between 1977 and 1995. Community Dent Health (in press).

20.

Laiho M. , Honkala E. , Nyyssonen V. , Milen A. (1993). Three methods of oral health education in secondary schools. Scand J Dent Res 101:422-427.

21.

Macgregor ID, Balding JW (1987). Toothbrushing frequency in relation to family size and bedtime in English schoolchildren. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 15:181-183. Norheim PW, Heloe LA (1977). Differences between dental health data obtained by interviews and questionnaires. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 5:121-125.

22.

Nutbeam D, Aarø LE (1991). Smoking and pupil attitudes towards school: the implications for health education with young people. Results from the WHO study of Health Behaviour among Schoolchildren. Health Educ Res 6:415-421. Nutbeam D, Aarø L, Catford J (1989). Understanding children's health behaviour: the implications for health promotion for young people. Soc Sci Med 29:317-325. O'Brien M (1994). Children's dental health in the United Kingdom 1993. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.

23.

Petersen PE (1992). Oral health behavior of 6-year-old Danish children . Acta Odontol Scand 50:57-64.

24.

Piette D, Maes L, Peeters R, Prevost M, Stevens AM, de Smet P, et al. (1993). The WHO Collaborative Study: health behaviour in school children in Belgium. Methodology and dissemination of data. Arch Public Health 51:387-405. Ranka I, Glazunova J, Platkaja E, Pukse I, Stare L, Damberga P, et al. (1992). Health for all young people in Latvia: The World Health Organization Cross-National Study of Health Behaviour in School-Age Children. Riga. Sheiham A (1977). Prevention and control of periodontal disease. In: International conference on research in the biology of periodontal disease. Klavan B, editor. Chicago: University of Illinois, pp. 309-368.

25.

Traeen B, Rise J (1990). Dental health behaviours in a Norwegian population. Community Dent Health 7:59-68. WHO (1985). Oral health care systems. An international collaborative study. Coordinated by WHO. London: Quintessence Publishing Company Ltd.

26.

Wold B. , Aarø LE , Smith C. (1994). Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children. A WHO Cross-National Survey (HBSC). Research protocol for the 1993-94 study. HEMIL-report 4.