Comparative analysis of toothbrushing practices among multicultural adolescents and mono-cultural Korean adolescents: data from 19th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the toothbrushing practices of multicultural and monocultural Korean adolescents using data from the 19th (2023) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey.Methods: Raw data were obtained from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency.Adolescents were classified into multicultural (at least one parent born abroad) and monocultural (both parents born in Korea) groups based on their parents' country of birth.The dependent variables were whether they brushed their teeth at least twice a day and whether they brushed their teeth after lunch.Sociodemographic factors included gender, school grade (age), subjective academic achievement, subjective household economic status, and residential area.Following the user's guidebook, we analyzed toothbrushing practices according to multicultural characteristics using complex sample crosstabs and logistic regression analysis.Results: Multicultural adolescents had a lower prevalence of toothbrushing practices, with the rates of brushing at least twice a day being 7.1% lower and rates of brushing after lunch being 5.7% lower (P<0.001).The odds of brushing at least twice a day were 0.54 to 0.64 times lower among multicultural adolescents compared to mono-cultural Korean adolescents, depending on the analysis model (P<0.001).The odds ratio of brushing after lunch did not show any statistical significance among multicultural adolescents compared to monocultural Korean adolescents in any of the analysis models (P>0.05).Conclusions: Compared with monocultural Korean adolescents, multicultural adolescents were less likely to meet the recommended frequency of toothbrushing; however, their toothbrushing practices at school were found to be similar.Therefore, there is a need to emphasize toothbrushing practices in schools and develop community-based toothbrushing programs tailored for multicultural families to improve dental hygiene behaviors among multicultural adolescents.