札幌市における中高生の口腔乾燥感に関する調査

subjective oral dryness

北海道歯学会

北海道歯学雑誌

The purpose of this study was to clarify the prevalence of subjective oral dryness and the factors that may affect subjective oral dryness among junior and senior high school students. 1,010 participants (369 boys and 641 girls) participated were selected from 1,305 junior and senior high school students who underwent dental examination in 2012, excluding those who had insufficiencies in the self-completed questionnaire and who had used orthodontic devices. The prevalence of subjective oral dryness in boy and girl junior high school students were 13.2% and 17.4%, respectively, while those in senior high school students were 22.7% and 17.1%, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the frequency of subjective oral dryness in the comparison of boys vs. girls in both junior and senior high school. There was also no significant difference in the frequency of subjective oral dryness in the comparison of junior high school vs. senior high school. Based on the clinical diagnosis of dry mouth, both junior and senior high school students were diagnosed as either normal or mildly symptomatic. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed significant association of skipping a meal (OR=1.65, more than once or twice a week), finish eating within 10 minutes (OR=1.67, more than once or twice a week), stuffy nose (OR=2.69, more than once or twice a month), mouth breathing (OR=2.02, more than once or twice a month) and mental stress (OR=1.89, more than three or four times a week) with subjective oral dryness. Objective symptoms of oral dryness (based on the clinical diagnostic criteria) were only normal and mildly symptomatic. These results suggested that subjective oral dryness is affected according to “skipping a meal”, “finish eating within 10 min”, “mental stress”, “stuffy nose”, and “mouth breathing”.