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- Title
Oral self-care behaviours: comparing Greek and Japanese dental students.
- Authors
Polychronopoulou, Argy; Kawamura, Makoto
- Abstract
Aim: This study explored cross-cultural differences of self-reported oral health behaviours between Greek and Japanese dental students. Participants: The sample population included 877 dental students, 539 students registered at the University of Athens Dental School, and 338 registered at the Hiroshima University Dental School. Material and methods: Oral health behaviour was assessed using the Greek and Japanese versions of a 20-item questionnaire entitled Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI). Results: The mean questionnaire score of the Japanese students (7.40) was significantly greater than that of the Greek peers (6.86, P = 0.001), indicating better oral self-care behaviour amongst the Japanese students; however, the overall difference was mainly attributed to their additional sixth study year. Greek and Japanese students provided significantly different answers to 14 of 20 HU-DBI items. Greeks significantly more often were required by their dentist to evaluate their brushing technique (OR = 14.4, P < 0.01), checked their teeth in the mirror after brushing (OR = 8.1, P < 0.01), worried about bad breath (OR = 6.7, P < 0.01), and believed that gum disease is preventable by tooth brushing alone (OR = 2.1, P < 0.05), whereas their Japanese peers significantly more often felt comfortable to clean their teeth without the use of a toothpaste (OR = 0.3, P < 0.01), believed that they take much time to brush their teeth (OR = 0.3, P < 0.01), used a child-sized toothbrush (OR = 0.2, P < 0.01), and put off going to the dentist until having toothache (OR = 0.4, P < 0.01). Conclusions: Considerable differences in dental health attitudes/behaviour exist amongst students in the two countries reflecting the different culture and the health education system of the students; moreover, it is possible to distinguish Greek dental students from Japanese peers with a probability of more than 89% by using the HU-DBI instrument.
- Subjects
GREECE; JAPAN; ORAL hygiene; HEALTH self-care; HEALTH; HEALTH behavior; HEALTH attitudes; DENTAL education; DENTAL students; GREEK students; STUDENTS
- Publication
European Journal of Dental Education, 2005, Vol 9, Issue 4, p164
- ISSN
1396-5883
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1600-0579.2005.00387.x