Determinants of Dental Health Behaviors among Iranian Students

Aim: Oral health plays a crucial role to general health, and influences individual’s quality of life. This study aimed to determine effective factors on dental health behaviors among Iranian students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on high school students in the city of Sanandaj (western Iran) from November 2014 to July 2015. An instrument with 35 items was used for data collection. It included two sections: socio-demographic characteristics, and 7 domains related to dental health behaviors. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by using face, content and construct validity, and test-retest and Cronbach s alpha, respectively. Simple random sampling and systematic random sampling techniques were used to select high school students. Plaque Index (PI) was recorded during the clinical dental examination. Finally, data were entered into the SPSS version 16.0 software and analyzed using ANOVA, Regression logistic, correlation coefficient tests, and independent t-test. Findings: There were statistically significant correlations between the role of school, fear of dental care, motivational beliefs, and value of teeth (P<0.05). Fear of dental care was the strongest predictor of oral health behaviors (ß=-0.48). PI was higher in male students (P<0.03) and in those who did not take care of their primary teeth (P<0.04). Conclusion: The results showed that social, environmental, policy and individual factors had distinctive influences on oral health-related behaviors and decreasing dental plaque. It is very important that dental health programs should be designed according to these factors.

کلیدواژه ها:

Dental health ، Students ، Plaque index ، Questionnaire