Oral Health Care Product Use by Thais : the study in 2005.

Abstract

This study aimed to servey the oral health care behavior of Thai people in 2005, in order to use as data base of proper and effective oral health promotion program. Stratified multistage sampling for field servey was done in population 6 - 9 years, 10 - 14 years, 15 - 24 years, 25 - 44 years, 45 - 59 years, and over 60 years by propability proportinate to size, totally 16,421 samples from 24 provinces Results were that 97.9% of Thai children brushed their teeth in the morning, 65.2% before bed. 98.4% of adults brushed in the morning,78.6% before bed. Most children or 68.0 % prefered toothbrushes with soft bristle . Most adults or 53.1% prefered medium bristle. The first three reasons to purchase children tooth paste were fluoride containing 31.3%, good taste 19 % and prevented gum desease 16.2%, while in adults were fluoride containing 26.1%, prevented gum disease 17.3% and whitening 15.2%. 64.9% of Thais had never read toothbrush labeling and 64.0% tooth paste labeling. Only 6.4% used dental floss, but 30.6% used mouthwashes, 72.6% used tooth picks, 5% chewed gum, and 6.4% used lozenge regularly. Thai people under concerned about oral check up and care, as 67.5% of adults had never done so last year, and 43.2% had never done at all.