Table 5.
Dietary and oral hygiene habits by country
| Dietary and oral hygiene habits | Country of residence | P value* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal (A) | Romania (B) | Sweden (C) | Total | ||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Frequency of sugary foods | |||||
| 4×/day or more | 9 (4.6) | 103A,C (22.8) | 12 (5.5) | 124 (14.3) | 0.001 |
| 1–3×/day | 35 (17.8) | 163A,C (36.1) | 33 (15.1) | 231 (26.6) | |
| 4×/week or more | 42 (21.3) | 99 (22.0) | 44 (20.1) | 185 (21.3) | |
| 1–3×/week | 102B (51.8) | 77 (17.1) | 114B (52.1) | 293 (33.8) | |
| Never | 9 (4.6) | 9 (2.0) | 16 (7.3) | 34 (3.9) | |
| Frequency of sugary drinks | |||||
| 4×/day or more | 16 (8.2) | 91A,C (20.4) | 13 (6.0) | 120 (14.0) | 0.001 |
| 1–3×/day | 33 (16.9) | 116A,C (26.0) | 35 (16.2) | 184 (21.5) | |
| 4×/week or more | 42 (21.5) | 102 (22.9) | 32 (14.8) | 176 (20.5) | |
| 1–3×/week | 83B (42.6) | 101 (22.6) | 115B (53.2) | 299 (34.9) | |
| Never | 21 (10.8) | 36 (8.1) | 21 (9.7) | 78 (9.1) | |
| Frequency of toothbrushing | |||||
| Never/seldom | 0 (0.0) | 47C (10.3) | 3 (1.4) | 50 (5.8) | 0.001 |
| Once a day | 24 (12.1) | 102A,C (22.4) | 20 (9.4) | 146 (16.8) | |
| Two or more times a day | 175B (87.9) | 306 (67.3) | 190B (89.2) | 671 (77.4) | |
| Change toothbrush | |||||
| 1–3 months | 55 (27.6) | 289A,C (63.5) | 99A (45.2) | 443 (50.7) | 0.001 |
| 4–6 months | 81B,C (40.7) | 87 (19.1) | 58 (26.5) | 226 (25.9) | |
| 7–12 months | 24 (12.1) | 31 (6.8) | 25(11.4) | 80 (9.2) | |
| More than 1 year | 9 (4.5) | 20 (4.4) | 5 (2.3) | 34 (3.9) | |
| Do not know | 30B (15.1) | 28 (6.2) | 32B (14.6) | 90 (10.3) | |
| Toothpastea | |||||
| Fluoride | 195B (96.0) | 418 (91.9) | 213B (97.3) | 814 (93.2) | 0.001 |
| Whitening | 102C (51.3) | 227C (49.9) | 48 (21.9) | 377 (43.2) | 0.001 |
| Desensitizing | 15C (7.5) | 54C (11.9) | 3 (1.4) | 72 (8.2) | 0.001 |
| Gingival care | 12 (6.0) | 34C (7.5) | 5 (2.3) | 51 (5.8) | 0.027 |
| Do not know | 49B (24.6) | 72 (15.8) | 71B (32.4) | 192 (22.0) | 0.001 |
| Dental floss | |||||
| Never | 92 (46.2) | 276AC (61.2) | 101 (46.1) | 469 (54.0) | 0.001 |
| Once a day | 33 (16.6) | 67 (14.9) | 25 (11.4) | 125 (14.4) | |
| Once a week | 6 (3.0) | 29 (6.4) | 16 (7.3) | 51 (5.9) | |
| When I feel something in my teeth | 60B (30.2) | 55 (12.2) | 68B (31.1) | 183 (21.1) | |
| When I go out | 1 (0.5) | 8 (1.8) | 5 (2.3) | 14 (1.6) | |
| When I am told to | 7 (3.5) | 16 (3.5) | 4 (1.8) | 27 (3.1) | |
| Smoking | |||||
| Yes | 8 (4.1) | 37 (8.1) | 17 (7.6) | 62 (7.1) | 0.218 |
| Sometimes | 11 (5.6) | 16 (3.5) | 13 (5.8) | 40 (4.6) | |
| Never | 177 (90.3) | 402 (88.4) | 194 (86.6) | 773 (88.3) | |
*Chi-squared test. Tests are adjusted for all pairwise comparisons within a row of each innermost subtable using the Bonferroni correction: P < 0.05 for upper case letters (A, B, C)
aTotal numbers add up to more than the total number of subjects due to reporting of multiple types of toothpaste by some subjects