Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of this study was to provide some basic data for effective prevention and oral health education for oral health. For that purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the boys of three high schools in Gyeonggi Province. Methods : The questionnaire consisted of items about the practice of oral health control and knowledge of decay according to grade, number of snacking, preferred taste, and toothbrushing. Total 487 questionnaires were put to analysis using the SPSS WIN 13.0 program. Results : 1. The biggest number of the boys brushed their teeth twice a day. The 10th graders brushed teeth three times a day, and the 11th and 12th graders tended to brush teeth twice a day(${\chi}^2$=18.21, p<.05). 2. As for the way of toothbrushing, 39.0% of the boys said they brushed teeth the way they felt like, being followed by those who said they brushed teeth turning the toothbrush up and down and brushing both the teeth and gums(32.6%). As for the number of snacking, those who had snacks three times a day or more brushed teeth turning the toothbrush up and down and brushing both the teeth and gums. Those who hardly had snacks more tended to brush teeth the way they felt like than those who had snacks(${\chi}^2$=21.28, p<.05). And as for preferred tastes, those who preferred a sweet and salty taste more tended to brush teeth the way they felt like than others. And those who preferred a hot taste brushed teeth turning the toothbrush up and down and brushing both the teeth and gums(${\chi}^2$=26.85, p<.01). 3. The respondents' percentage of correct answers for 'Decay is caused by bacteria' was 81.5%. Those who preferred a hot taste recorded the highest percentage of correct answers(${\chi}^2$=21.95, p<.00). 4. Their percentage of correct answers for 'Decay is accompanied by pain from the beginning' was 78.2%. The 12th graders had the highest rate of correct answers, and the 11th graders had the highest rate of wrong answers(${\chi}^2$=11.56, p<.00). 5. Their percentage of correct answers for 'Fluorine is helpful to the prevention of decay' was 75.4%. Those who hardly had snacks recorded the highest rate of correct answers(${\chi}^2$=10.05, p<.02). 6. Their percentage of correct answers for 'There is a way to supply fluorine into the waterworks' was 29.2%, which means the percentage of wrong answers was much higher. The percentage of wrong answers was the highest in the 11th grade(${\chi}^2$=7.06, p<.03). 7. The respondents' mean scores of knowledge of decay were 13.15 of total 18. While the 12th graders showed the highest level of knowledge of decay, the 11th graders were lower in the level of knowledge of decay than the other graders. And there were significant differences(F=5.41, p<.01) according to grade with no such differences according to the number of snacking and preferred taste. Conclusions : Oral health education should be applied to the boys all through their life to have a great effect, and it is important that they should always put the oral health education into practice to be a successful education.