title: Association between oral health habits and dental caries among children in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the self-reported oral health habits and their association with the occurrence of dental caries among children in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), after 6 years of activities under the auspices of the Children's Oral Health Promotion Programme (COHPP).
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were collected in September 2013 in two of the most central districts of Pyongyang City, DPRK. The sample consisted of 492 children aged 10 and 13 years who had participated in the COHPP for 6 years. The children filled in a self-completed, structured questionnaire on oral health habits and were examined clinically by a dentist. The differences in mean (SD) number of decayed primary (dt) and permanent teeth (DT) and their sum (dt + DT) subdivided according to genders, age groups, districts and self-reported oral health habits were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U-test. The associations between self-reported oral health habits and the occurrence of dental caries were evaluated with chi-square test and logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The school-aged children commonly reported healthy oral hygiene habits but sweet snacks were commonly used. The occurrence of dental caries associated statistically significantly with the frequency of sweet snacking (p=0.011) but not with the frequency of tooth brushing (p=0.725) or the use of water for thirst instead of sugary beverages (p=0.189).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A more effective promotion of healthy dietary habits with innovative approaches and close collaboration with different social actors will be needed in future.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.|Oral Health Care, Department of Social Services and Health Care, Helsinki, City of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P-L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Tarvonen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.|Oral and Maxillofacial Department, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Suominen
authors.affiliation: Korea Education Fund, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Dental Faculty, Pyongyang Medical College, Kim Il Sung University, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.|Oral and Maxillofacial Department, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.|Research Unit of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.|Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medical Research Centre Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sipilä
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D056911:Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: children; dental caries; oral health habits