This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oral health literacy and oral health behaviors. Methods: The study subjects were 760 adults who were selected using the convenience sampling method. The participants were administered a self-report questionnaire. Oral health literacy was classified into two categories: verbal oral health literacy and functional oral health literacy. The oral heath behaviors that were surveyed included perceived oral health status, perceived oral health interest, perceived oral health knowledge, experience of visiting dental clinic, experience of scaling, and the frequency of toothbrushing. Sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, educational level, and family income were also surveyed. Results:The ratio of self-perceived good oral health status and toothbrushing more than three times a day was higher in the participants with high oral health literacy than in those with low oral health literacy. Oral health literacy was positively correlated with oral health behaviors. Perceived oral health status, perceived oral health interest, perceived oral health knowledge, experience of scaling, and frequency of daily toothbrushing were also positively correlated with oral health literacy. Furthermore, perceived oral health status and frequency of daily toothbrushing were both correlated with verbal oral health literacy and functional oral health literacy. A multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that oral health literacy was correlated with oral health behaviors. Verbal oral health literacy was correlated with perceived oral health interest, perceived oral health knowledge, and frequency of daily toothbrushing. Functional oral health literacy was correlated with perceived oral health status. Conclusions: To improve the oral health of adults, oral health literacy, which is related to oral health behaviors, should be considered alongside the implementation of appropriate oral health education. Furthermore, an oral health literacy intervention should be immediately developed.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the patterns of dental caries experience on the tooth surface of Korean adolescents of the ages of 12 and 15 years. Methods: The raw data from the 2012 Korean National Oral Health Survey were reviewed, and the records of a total of 10,542 adolescents were analyzed in this study. The surfaces of the 28 permanent teeth were categorized into the occlusal, smooth, and proximal surface types. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multidimensional scaling analysis, and cluster analysis were performed to analyze the data. Results: The analysis of the relationship of the dental caries experience on the tooth surfaces between the oral quadrants revealed that the correlation between the surface relationship of the left and right teeth was higher than that between the upper and lower teeth, in all of the quadrants. As a result of multidimensional scling analysis, the adolescents aged 12 were classified into six clusters: occlusal surface of mandibular first molars, occlusal surface of maxillary first molars, smooth surface of maxillary first molars, smooth surface of mandibular first molars, occlusal surface of mandibular second molars and the rest of tooth surface. Similarly, the dental surfaces of the 15-year-old adolescents were classified into seven clusters: occlusal surface of the mandibular first molars, occlusal surface of the maxillary first molars, smooth surface of the first molars, occlusal surface of the mandibular second molars, occlusal surface of the maxillary second molars, smooth surface of the mandibular second molars, and the surfaces of the. The patterns of caries experience are usually clustered on the same types of tooth surfaces; for example, patterns on an occlusal surface clustered with those on another occlusal surface, or patterns on a smooth surface with those on another smooth surface. Conclusions: Knowledge about the caries patterns on the tooth surfaces might be useful for the prevention and management of dental caries.

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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the dental health capacity of the first permanent molars among children and adolescents in Korea and to assess its related factors. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from the Korea National Oral Health Survey (2006 and 2010). The subjects of the present study included a total of 34,975 people aged 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15 years (5,347 in 2006 and 29,628 in 2010). The dental health capacity of the first permanent molars was calculated using Clune's methods. Changes in dental health capacity were analyzed according to year, age, sex, and region. We used a multiple regression model to identify relevant factors for dental health capacity of the first permanent molars. Results: The dental health capacity values were calculated according to age group as follows: 6 years, 99.66%; 12 years, 96.50%; and 15 years, 95.24%. The dental health capacity in 2010 was estimated to be higher than that in the year 2006. The increment rate of dental health capacity was higher for girls than for boys. The dental health capacity of the first permanent molars was related to the following factors: year, age, sex, region, perceived oral health status, frequency of tooth brushing per day, frequency of cariogenic snack intake per day, and number of teeth with pit and fissure sealant. Among these factors, number of teeth with pit and fissure sealant had the greatest effect on the dental health capacity of the first permanent molars. Conclusions: The dental health capacity of the first permanent molars was higher in rural areas than in the metropolis and cities. Therefore, the pit and fissure sealant program, apart from the health insurance coverage, must be revitalized for children and adolescents in rural areas.