만 12세 아동 치아우식경험 고위험군의 구강건강행태 및 위험요인

초록

Objectives: To analyze the characteristics and risk factors associated with high-risk of dental cariesamong 12-year-old children in Korea. Methods: Data were collected from 16,809 children who participated in the 2021–2022 KoreanChildren’s Oral Health Survey, including the results of oral health examinations and self-reportedquestionnaires. Participants were classified into a high-risk or a low-risk group based on the number of decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth. The highest-risk one-third of the children wasassigned to the high-risk group (N=5,266) and the remaining two-thirds were assigned to the lowrisk group (N=11,543). Statistical analyses were conducted to explore the relationships betweenvarious demographic and behavioral factors and the caries risk status. Results: The mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth in the high-risk group was 4.89,which was approximately 8.6 times higher than that of the low-risk group. Children in the highrisk group received dental treatment within the past year at three times the rate of children in thelow-risk group (P<0.001). The significant risk factors included perceived oral health status, sex,frequency of intake of sugary snacks, tooth brushing before bedtime, requirement for dental treatment, and unmet dental care requirements. Children who perceived their oral health as ‘poor’ were2.29 times more likely to be in the high-risk group than those who perceived it as ‘healthy’ (‘fair,’odds ratio=1.47; ‘poor,’ odds ratio=2.29). Conclusions: To improve oral health outcomes in children and address oral health inequalities, targeted preventive programs and education should focus on children who have been identified ashigh-risk based on the behavioral and perceptual indicators identified in this study.

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