A Study on the Awareness and Use of Oral Hygiene Supplies by Dental Patients

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on usage patterns of oral hygiene supplies of patients visiting a dental clinic. Methods : A questionnaire survey was administered to 592 patients visiting a dental clinic based in Daegu from December 2, 2013 through December 31, 2013. Statistical analysis was done with IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. Results : For awareness of oral toothbrushes, electric toothbrushs had the highest ratio(67.6%), and for awareness of auxiliary oral hygiene devices, dental floss had the highest ratio (77.7%). For toothbrushes used, interdental brushes had the highest user ratio(34.3%), and for using auxiliary oral hygiene devices, dental floss had the highest ratio(37.7%). Age had an influence on the awareness of oral hygiene devices. Gender and Age had influence on the use of oral hygiene devices. Of the total respondents, 34.6% citied "do not need to do that" as the reason for not using oral hygiene supplies, followed by "do not know" (34%) and "it is tiresome" (30.4%). Conclusions : To effectively improve oral health status, a good motivation method necessary to promote the use of oral hygiene supplies.