Differences in Determinants Influencing Self-Rated Oral Health in Korean and American Adults

Abstract

This study aims to identify the differences in the determinants that influence self-rated oral health (SROH) among Korean and American adults aged 20 years or older and the differences in objective oral health status between Korea and the United States. It included 13,068 Koreans and 5569 Americans who participated in the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. All analyses were conducted using the SPSS 25 program. The 39% of Koreans and 27.7% of Americans rated their oral health as “poor”. The mean SROH score was lower in Korea (2.66) than in the US (3.15). Conversely, objective oral health was better among Koreans. Further, an analysis of the differences in the predictors of SROH between the two countries confirmed that there were significant differences in age, household income, education level, insurance type (none), type of smoking, self-rated health, and decayed teeth index. Government-led projects or policy-based changes that can improve objective oral health status are needed to boost SROH in Korea, and subsequent studies should examine other objective oral health indices (e.g., periodontal disease) as well as differences in sociocultural backgrounds between countries.

Trends in Self-Rated Oral Health and Its Associations with Oral Health Status and Oral Health Behaviors in Japanese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from 2011 to 2019

“…In 2019, 1721 (85.2%) participants had very good, good or fair SROH. According to recent studies [ 11 , 31 ], this value was higher than the data of people aged 20–29 years old in the United States in 2017–2018 (75.3%), aged 20–29 years old in Korea in 2016–2018 (78.0%), and aged 15–34 years old in Australia in 2017–2018 (81.6%). This discrepancy might be due to the differences in sample sizes and age groups.…”

“…This discrepancy might be due to the differences in sample sizes and age groups. In addition, these studies categorized excellent, very good, and good into good SROH and fair and poor into poor SROH in the United States and Australia [ 11 , 31 ]. However, the present study categorized very good, good, and fair into good SROH based on a previous study of Japanese university students [ 2 ].…”

“…Previous studies reported that SROH was associated with a variety of factors, including demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors, objective oral health, and oral health awareness [ 11 ]. SROH was also associated with clinical conditions [decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), gingival bleeding, and periodontal pockets], and oral symptoms (oral pain, tooth sensitivity, bad breath, and difficulty in speaking) [ 1 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Association Between Changes in Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Depressive Symptoms in the Korean Elderly Population

“…Differences in GOHAI among countries can be explained by differences in self-rated oral health status. In one study, South Koreans had poorer self-rated oral health compared with a US population, even though the oral health (i.e., the number of teeth; decayed, missing, filled teeth index; decayed teeth index; filled teeth index; and missing teeth index) considered better (26). Differences between countries are more pronounced for the dimension of the GOHAI.…”