Factors Affecting Dental Caries Preventive Behaviors among School Children Grade 5 and 6 in Tambon Watthana Nakhon, Amphoe Watthana Nakhon, Changwat Sa Kaeo-ปัจจัยที่มีผลต่อพฤติกรรมการป้องกันโรคฟันผุของนักเรียนประถมศึกษาปีที่ 5 และ 6 ตำบลวัฒนานคร อำเภอวัฒนานคร จังหวัดสระแก้ว

Abstract

            The objective of this analytical study was to investigate predisposing factors, enabling factors and reinforcing factors affecting dental caries preventive behaviors of schoolchildren.   The subjects of this study included 287 schoolchildren grade 5 and 6 from 6 schools located in Watthana Nakhon Sub-district, Watthana Nakhon District, Sa Kaeo Province.  The investigation included predisposing factors, namely knowledge and attitude towards dental caries; the enabling factors, namely accessibility to dental health service, snack-food sources and dental hygiene accessories sources; and the reinforcing factors, namely social supports and awareness of dental care information, respectively.  The data were collected through structured questionaires and analyzed for factors affecting dental caries, preventive behaviors using multiple regression analysis by stepwise method.  The study was conducted from May to December, 2007.  

             The result showed that 50.2 percent of the subjects were female students with median age 12 years.  The median daily allowance for the students was 20 baht, 10 of which was spent on snacks.   The prevalence of dental caries in permanent dentition of the students was 49.5 percent.  Most of the students had correct knowledge related to tooth brushing.   The students received the information in tooth brushing from their parents, teachers and public health dental officers.  Regarding attitude towards dental caries, the subjects perceived that the time to see a dentist was only when their teeth was decayed (31.0%), that snacks was enjoyable food (21.6%), and that only way to treat decayed teeth was to have them pulled (19.2%).  While 53.7 percent of the students had access to dental services, 17.4 percent of them had their teeth examined for fluoride coated.   Majority of the students (74.2%) regularly bought snacks from the shops located in schools.  Family members and teachers played a vital role in providing the subjects tooth brushes, reminding the subjects to brush their teeth and warning not to over consume snacks, while public health officers exerted their role in tooth examination.  In preventive behavior toward dental caries, it was found that 46.3 percent of the students brushed their teeth correctly; nevertheless only 54.0 percent of them regularly did before going to bed.  The students consumed snacks daily (75.6%), candy (61.3%), soft drink (58.5%) and biscuit (43.2%).  Multiple regression analyses revealed that attitude towards dental caries and social support had positive effect to the preventive behaviors of dental caries, while snacks accessibility had negative effect to the behaviors, with significance at p-value < 0.05.  These factors could explain variability of the preventive behavior of dental caries at 14.6 percent (R= 0.1460).

Key words:      preventive behaviors of dental caries, primary school students, tooth brushing