• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.255-263
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• 2004

One of the best way to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease is removing dental plaque. Toothbrushing is also one of the crucial ways to gel rid of dental plaque and improve dental hygiene. The purpose of th is study was to examine how many bacteria were attached to toothbrushes used by dental palque acidogenecity and related behaviors to toothbrush use. Subjects in this study were 30 college students in their twenties, on whom a survey was conducted to find out how they cleansed their toothbrushes, how long they cleaned toothbrushes after brushing, and how to keep them. And then dental palque acidogenecity by caries activity test was implemented and the number of bacteria attached to their toothbrushes was tested. The findings of the study were as follows : 1. Concerning correlations between dental palque acidogenecity and the number of remaining bacteria in the toothbrushes used by students, the number of bacteria was lower in the group of students with no caries activity than in the group with mild caries activity. 2. As for relations between the way of cleansing toothbrushes and the number of bacteria, there was no statistically significant gap between the group of students who wetted their toothbrushes with water and rubbed the heads of them and the group of students who just only wetted their toothbrushes with no further actions. 3. Regarding the relationship of toothbrush cleansing time to the number of bacteria, the number of bacteria was lower in the group of students who cleansed their toothbrushes for 15 seconds or more. 4. As to the influence of the number of toothbrush used by students, there was no significant difference between the group using just one toothbrush and the other group using two or more toothbrushes. 5. As for correlations between the way of keeping toothbrushes and the number of bacteria, no significant gap existed between the group thai kept their toothbrushes separately and the other that didn't.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.527-537
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the practice of oral hygiene behaviors and oral health status of long-term care facility residents and to analyze the factors related to salivary hemoglobin level which can predict active periodontal disease. Methods: From 30th October 2015 to 7th January 2016, a questionnaire was provided to 63 participants and their dental plaque and saliva samples were collected to assess the levels of salivary hemoglobin and dental plaque acidogenicity. In order to analyze the factors related to salivary hemoglobin level, multiple linear regression analysis was performed. Results: Toothbrushing was most frequently performed by the participants themselves (98.4%) and toothbrushing was performed after eating breakfast (81.3%). 68.8% of participants reported brushing their tongue. 35.9% of participants perceived having bad teeth, and 87.5% had high dental caries activity. The percentages of participants with hyposalivation and ${\geq}0.20{\mu}g/ml$ salivary hemoglobin level were 45.3% and 59.4%, respectively. The salivary hemoglobin level was significantly higher in the group in which stimulated salivary flow rate was ${\leq}0.70ml/min$, dental plaque acidogenicity was superior, and perceived having bad teeth (p<0.05). There was also a tendency for the salivary hemoglobin level to increase with age (p<0.05). Conclusions: Oral health status of the long-term care facility residents was still not improved, and the characteristics of salivary volume and dental plaque were important factors affecting salivary hemoglobin level. Therefore, it is necessary to operate an oral hygiene intervention program by oral health professionals in such facilities in order to provide residents with effective oral care aligned with their respective needs. Furthermore, it is necessary for caregivers to complete mandatory oral health education to improve the oral hygiene status of the long-term care facility residents.