The effects of toothache experience and oral health behavior on Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean adults -using the second edition of the 8th National Health Nutrition Survey (2019-2020)

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between toothache, oral health behaviors, and the quality of health-related life of Korean adults. A national nutrition survey representative of Korea was used. The study presents basic material for developing health improvement and dental health programs to highlight the importance of oral health management and Health-Related Quality of Life improvement. Methods: The second edition of the 8th national health nutrition survey data was used for this study. The subjects were 5,922 Korean adults aged 19 years and above. Results: There was a significant difference in gender, age, marital status, education, income, toothache experience, subjective oral health condition, and the number of daily toothbrushes in participants' Health-Related Quality of Life. For gender, "male" had an overall higher quality of life which was statistically significant. In toothache experience, Health-Related Quality of Life was significantly higher at 0.027 with "none" (P<0.01). In addition, higher conditions of subjective oral health at 0.077 showed a significantly higher quality of life (P<0.01). Conclusions: This study revealed that higher subjective oral health conditions in Korean adults resulted in higher Health-Related Quality of Life and subjectively better oral health conditions. This means that active health management is possible, and concrete systematic health education program development is urgently needed. Oral health improvement can improve Health-Related Quality of Life. It is necessary to recognize the importance of oral health to improve Health-Related Quality of Life through oral health prevention and promotion programs for adults.