Knowledge of and practices related to caries prevention among Koreans.

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed the knowledge and opinions of caries prevention and source of oral health information among Koreans.

METHODS

A questionnaire consisting of 36 items was used to interview 2,000 Koreans 10 through 69 years of age. Results for only selected questions are reported. A multistage, stratified, random sampling method was used.

RESULTS

Sixty-nine percent of the respondents had heard about fluoride. Only 16 percent knew that some community water supplies in Korea are fluoridated. Fifty-five percent of respondents who knew about community water fluoridation learned the information from television, whereas 28 percent read about it in a newspaper. Among those respondents who reported hearing about community water fluoridation, only 30 percent had precise information about its purpose. Fifty-five percent of the respondents reported that toothbrushing is the best way to maintain good oral health. Almost all respondents (97 percent) reported brushing their teeth one or more times a day.

CONCLUSIONS

These data indicate that there is a relatively low level of accurate knowledge about dental caries prevention among Koreans 10 through 69 years of age. The majority of respondents report learning information about oral health from the mass media.