Caries has a negative influence on health and is still a public health problem among children and adolescents in Poland. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of dietary habits, oral hygiene behaviors and the frequency of usage of dental services with the dental caries index in teenagers in North-West Poland. The study enrolled 264 children (147M/117F) aged 15. Participants filled out a questionnaire regarding age, sex, frequency of visits to the dentist, dietary habits and oral hygiene behaviors, and the Decayed Missing Filled Teeth Index (DMFT) was calculated. Caries was found in 88.6% of subjects. The lower or no caries experience group (DMFT ≤ 5) comprised of 180 subjects, while higher caries experience (DMFT > 5) was found in 84 teenagers and was significantly inversely associated with tooth brushing after the last meal (OR = 0.45; 95% CI:0.21–0.97; p = 0.04) and the daily use of dental floss (OR = 0.12; 95% CI:0.01–0.92; p = 0.04). There is an emerging need for the implementation of effective caries prevention and recovery programs in Poland. Health promotion focusing on oral hygiene behaviors should be disseminated more widely because lower caries experience was demonstrated in teenagers declaring healthy oral habits. Another important need is the development of multi-sectorial actions aiming at the improvement of dietary habits.

中文翻译：

---

与波兰西北部城市地区青少年的DMFT指数相关的口腔健康相关行为-龋齿仍然是一个普遍的问题

龋齿对健康有负面影响，仍然是波兰儿童和青少年中的公共健康问题。这项研究的目的是分析西北波兰青少年的饮食习惯，口腔卫生行为和使用牙科服务的频率与龋齿指数之间的关系。该研究招募了264名年龄在15岁以下的儿童（147M / 117F）。参与者填写了有关年龄，性别，看牙医的频率，饮食习惯和口腔卫生行为的调查表，并计算了龋齿缺失龋齿指数（DMFT）。在88.6％的受试者中发现了龋齿。龋病经验较低或没有的经验组（DMFT≤5）由180名受试者组成，而龋齿经验较高的组（DMFT>p = 0.04）和每天使用牙线（OR = 0.12； 95％CI：0.01-0.92；p = 0.04）。迫切需要在波兰实施有效的龋齿预防和康复计划。应当更加广泛地传播注重口腔卫生行为的健康促进措施，因为在宣告健康口腔习惯的青少年中，龋齿的发生率较低。另一个重要的需求是开发旨在改善饮食习惯的多部门行动。