Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the trend and differences in toothbrushing frequency in the Baltic and Nordic c ountries b etween 1 997 a nd 2 014.
Methods: The study was a part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), a WHO collaborative crossnational study which was completed every fourth year. Altogether 235,135 pupils with mean ages of 11.6, 13.6, and 15.6 years completed an anonymous standardised questionnaire during school hours between 1997/1998 and 2013/2014. School classes were used as clusters and samples were nationally representative except in the Russian Federation.
Results: The highest prevalence of more-than- once-a-day tooth-brushing was found in Sweden (83%), Denmark (77%) and Norway (74%), and the lowest in Latvia (49%), Lithuania (50%) and Russia (54%). Over time prevalence of recommended tooth-brushing behaviour increased in six countries (from mean 40–70% to mean 50–74%). The largest improvement was found in Finland among 11-year-old boys and girls (25%/24%) and among 13-year-old girls (23%). In Lithuania, the mean figure for improvement was +10%. Over time, brushing frequency deteriorated in four countries (from mean 52–86% to mean 49–83%). The largest deterioration was found among Russian 11-year- old girls and boys (-15%/-10%) and among 13- year-old boys (-13%). In all countries and across all study years, gender differences were clear with girls brushing more often than boys. The largest gender difference was found among 15- year-olds in Finland (28%), Latvia (25%), Estonia (24%) and in Russia (22%), and the smallest difference in Sweden (6-7% for all age groups). Adoption of a recommended tooth-brushing habit increased by age among girls, but in most of the countries,15-year-old boys brushed less frequently than 11-year-olds.
Conclusions: In this study, differences in tooth-brushing frequency between the Baltic and Nordic countries diminished over time but still remained quite large. Gender difference was obvious in most of the countries.
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