A Multi-Level Analysis Of Dental Caries Among Adolescents

Caries is one of the common and frequent diseases in children, which not only causes toothache, but also affects the quality of life. A multi-factor analysis model was used to analyze the influencing factors of caries in 12 year old children in Longhua district of Shenzhen from individual and background level. 940 students aged 12 in Longhua district of Shenzhen were investigated. The clinical examination and questionnaire were applied in schools, and a multi-level model was established to explain the efect of individual and contextual factors on Shenzhen adolescents’ caries. The prevalence of caries among the respondents was 51.17%. The multi-level analysis showed that the following factors were associated with dental caries: father’s educational level, use of fluoride toothpaste, dental trauma, toothache within the past 12 months, assessment of their own oral health status, reason for last dental visit, aligned maxillary anterior teeth, gingival bleeding, calculus, BMI, type of school enrollment. The caries prevalence rate of 12 year old children in Longhua district of Shenzhen City was affected by many factors. Integrating oral health knowledge into education and making use of the school platform to carry out effective oral health knowledge education is one of the effective means to improve oral health status.