Table 1.
Distribution of oral hygiene practices by sociodemographic characteristics
| Socio-demographic characteristics | Oral hygiene practices | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (un-weighted %) | Visiting dentist within the last 6 months | Cleaning teeth at least once a day % (95% CI) | Cleaning teeth at least twice a day | Use of fluoridated toothpaste | |
| N = 4677 | N = 4677 | N = 4668† | N = 4668† | N = 4421‡ | |
| Age ranges (in years) | |||||
| 25–30 | 1306 (27.9) | 1.7 (1.1–2.5) | 85.8 (83.8–87.7) | 36.4 (33.8–39.0) | 28.3 (25.8–30.9) |
| 30–44 | 1988 (42.5) | 2.2 (1.6–2.9) | 85.1 (83.4–86.6) | 31.7 (29.6–33.8) | 27.4 (25.4–29.5) |
| 45–64 | 1383 (29.6) | 2.5 (1.8–3.5) | 76.4 (74.1–78.6) | 26.2 (23.9–28.6) | 20.1 (17.9–22.5) |
| p value | NS | *** | *** | *** | |
| Gender | |||||
| Men | 2245 (48.0) | 1.8 (1.3–2.4) | 83.1 (81.5–84.6) | 29.9 (28.0–31.8) | 29.0 (27.1–31.0) |
| Women | 2432 (52.0) | 2.5 (1.9–3.2) | 82.4 (80.8–83.9) | 32.8 (30.9–34.7) | 22.4 (20.7–24.2) |
| p value | NS | NS | * | *** | |
| Residence area | |||||
| Rural | 3734 (79.8) | 1.6 (1.3–2.1) | 80.3 (79.0–81.6) | 28.3 (26.8–29.7) | 19.6 (18.3–21.0) |
| Urban | 943 (20.2) | 4.1 (3.0–5.6) | 92.3 (90.4–93.9) | 43.7 (40.5–46.9) | 48.5 (45.2–51.8) |
| p value | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| Education level | |||||
| No formal/no education | 3618 (77.4) | 1.5 (1.1–1.9) | 80.2 (78.8–81.5) | 28.3(26.9–29.8) | 18.6 (17.3–19.9) |
| Primary achieved | 727 (15.5) | 3.2 (2.0–4.7) | 88.4 (85.9–90.7) | 31.1 (27.7–34.6) | 37.2 (33.7–40.9) |
| Secondary or more | 332 (7.1) | 6.9 (4.4–10.2) | 98.2 (96.1–99.3) | 65.4 (60.0–70.5) | 72.5 (67.4–77.2) |
| p value | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| Occupation | |||||
| Occupation with regular income | 3497 (74.8) | 1.9 (1.5–2.4) | 83.1 (81.8–84.3) | 32.5 (31.0–34.1) | 25.3 (23.8–26.8) |
| Job with not regular income | 1180 (25.2) | 2.8 (1.9–3.9) | 81.7 (79.4–83.9) | 28.0 (25.5–30.7) | 26.5 (24.0–29.2) |
| p value | *** | *** | *** | *** | |
| Marital status | |||||
| Singles | 642 (13.7) | 2.5 (1.4–4.0) | 82.6 (81.4–83.7) | 30.5 (26.9–34.2) | 33.9 (30.2–37.9) |
| Married/cohabiting | 4035 (86.3) | 2.1 (1.7–2.6) | 83.8 (80.7–86.5) | 31.5 (30.1–33.0) | 24.3 (23.0–25.7) |
| p value | NS | NS | NS | *** | |
†Nine individuals without teeth were not included in the analyses; ‡Individuals without teeth (nine) or those who did not know if their toothpaste was or was not fluoridated (247) were not included in this analysis; NS: nonsignificant p value; *p value < 0.05; **p value < 0.01; ***p value < 0.001