Azam Tanzeelah, Kitsaras George, Gomez Juliana, Goodwin Michaela
Dental Health Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Dental Health Unit, Colgate-Palmolive, Manchester, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2025 Mar 18;20(3):e0309183. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309183. eCollection 2025.
Young adults are exposed to a variety of risk-related behaviours such as alcohol, smoking, and changes in dietary habits, which may result in unknown outcomes in their oral health. There is limited evidence on whether different risk behaviours are associated with oral health behaviours in the university student population. This study gathers data on the behaviours of students in their first year of university, which will inform the future development of oral health behaviour change interventions for this population.
This longitudinal quantitative survey involved 205 first-year students aged 18-24 at the University of Manchester. Students completed online questionnaires at baseline and again at a 6-month follow-up interval, providing information regarding self-reported oral health status, hygiene routines, and risk behaviours (e.g., diet, smoking, alcohol).
The findings showed associations between oral health behaviours with risk behaviours, including links with oral care routines, bleeding gums, brushing frequency, with exercise, vaping, and unhealthy food and drink intake. Significant changes over the two-time points were also observed, including the worsening of the self-reported condition of the teeth (p < 0.001), a reduction in the self-reported condition of the gums (p = 0.004), a decrease in brushing frequency (p = 0.003), fewer regular dental visits (p = 0.013), more students intending to visit their previous dentist rather than finding a new dentist at university (p = 0.026), and greater consumption of unhealthy non-alcoholic drinks (p = 0.003). Positive changes over time included reduced frequency and units of alcohol consumption (p = 0.030 and p = 0.001), fewer instances of binge drinking (p = 0.014), and less frequent consumption of unhealthy foods (p = 0.034).
The findings highlighted the complex relationship between oral health and risk behaviours in this demographic. Poorer oral health behaviours were linked to engagement in risk behaviours. Thus, oral health behaviours should be targeted alongside other risk behaviours, and tailored interventions should be developed to improve behaviours among university students.
年轻人会接触到各种与风险相关的行为，如饮酒、吸烟和饮食习惯的改变，这些行为可能会对他们的口腔健康产生未知的影响。关于不同的风险行为是否与大学生群体的口腔健康行为相关的证据有限。本研究收集了大学一年级学生的行为数据，这将为该人群未来口腔健康行为改变干预措施的制定提供参考。
这项纵向定量调查涉及曼彻斯特大学205名年龄在18 - 24岁的一年级学生。学生们在基线时以及在6个月的随访间隔再次完成在线问卷，提供有关自我报告的口腔健康状况、卫生习惯和风险行为（如饮食、吸烟、饮酒）的信息。
研究结果显示口腔健康行为与风险行为之间存在关联，包括与口腔护理习惯、牙龈出血、刷牙频率、运动、吸电子烟以及不健康食品和饮料摄入之间的联系。在两个时间点之间也观察到了显著变化，包括自我报告的牙齿状况恶化（p < 0.001）、自我报告的牙龈状况下降（p = 0.004）、刷牙频率降低（p = 0.003）、定期看牙医的次数减少（p = 0.013）、更多学生打算去看以前的牙医而不是在大学找新牙医（p = 0.026）以及不健康非酒精饮料的消费量增加（p = 0.003）。随着时间的推移，积极的变化包括饮酒频率和饮酒量减少（p = 0.030和p = 0.001）、暴饮次数减少（p = 0.014）以及不健康食品的消费频率降低（p = 0.034）。
研究结果突出了这一人群中口腔健康与风险行为之间的复杂关系。较差的口腔健康行为与参与风险行为有关。因此，应将口腔健康行为与其他风险行为一起作为目标，并应制定针对性的干预措施来改善大学生的行为。
