Abstract

The purpose of this study was to make a comparative analysis of the oral health practice between dental hygiene students and Non-Dental Hygiene students in an effort to shed light on the importance of oral health education and its implications for personnels responsible for oral health practice. Their oral health awareness was investigated, and what factors might affect their actual oral health practice was observed. An then a comparative analysis was conducted. Followings are the main results of this study. First, when the characteristics of the self-rated oral health of the college students were analyzed, the dental hygiene students were ahead of the other students who didn't major in dental hygiene in every factor including oral health concern(p<0.001), awareness of oral health importance(p<0.01) and self-perceived oral health status(p<0.01). Second, the dental hygiene students significantly excelled the other students in both the level of oral health awareness(p<0.001) and the level of oral health practice(p<0.001). The findings of the study showed that more oral health education experiences led to better oral health awareness and better oral health practice, and that better oral health awareness led to better oral health practice.

본 연구는 치위생과 학생과 일반 대학생들과의 비교분석을 통해 구강보건교육의 중요성을 알아봄으로써, 현재 구강보건관리를 책임지고 있는 인력들에게 시사점을 제공하고자 연구되어 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 첫째, 대학생들이 인지, 자각하고 있는 구강건강 특성을 살펴본 결과, 구강건강에 대한 관심(p<0.001), 구강건강의 중요도(p<0.01), 현재 학생들이 지각하는 구강건강 상태(p<0.01) 등의 모든 요인에서 치위생과 학생이 일반 학생들 보다 높게 나타났다. 둘째, 구강보건인식 수준은 치위생과 학생이 $4.41{\pm}0.62$점으로 일반 학생 $3.81{\pm}0.70$점보다 유의하게 높게 나타났으며(p<0.001), 구강보건실천 수준 역시 치위생과 학생이 $3.80{\pm}0.61$점으로 일반 학생 $3.33{\pm}0.57$점보다 유의하게 높게 나타났다(p<0.001). 이상의 결과에서 구강보건교육을 받은 경험이 있는 경우 구강보건인식과 실천 수준이 높고, 구강보건인식 수준이 증가할수록 구강보건실천 수준이 높아지는 것으로 나타나 대학생 시기에 적절한 구강보건교육이 실시되어야 할 것으로 생각된다.

Keywords

• Dental hygiene students;
• Non-dental hygiene students;
• Oral health practice

• 구강보건실천;
• 치위생과 학생;
• 일반 학생;