Effect of an oral healthcare program on gingival health status in rural areas of South Korea

Min-Young Lee

qualifications: MD

contribution: designed the project, statistical analysis

position: Graduate student

Good afternoon! Let's me introduce myself for a while. My name is Min-Young Lee and I am a dental hygienist. Dental hygiene is the study of preventive oral health care, including the management of behaviors to prevent oral diseases and promote health. I'm very interested in the community health field. Endeavors to manage their own oral hygiene are crucial in preventing periodontal diseases through activated cooperation among school, health care centers, dental hospital and related institutions.

Nam-Hee Kim

qualifications: PhD

contribution: contributed to drafts

position: Professor

Won-Gyun Chung

qualifications: PhD

contribution: supervised data collection

position: Professor

Eun-Mi Choi

qualifications: PhD

contribution: literature review

position: Professor

Chun Bae Kim

qualifications: PhD

contribution: devised survey tool

position: Professor

Korea, Republic of (South)

I'm interesting at community health, global health (including rural health), etc.

Eun-Hee Choi

qualifications: PhD

contribution: designed the project, supervised data collection

position: Faculty

Sei-Jin Chang

qualifications: PhD

position: Professor

As you may know periodontal disease is one of the main causes of tooth loss in individuals after middle-age. Due to the growing importance of continuous care for adult periodontal disease, this professional oral hygiene program for Korean residents with low dental service accessibility was designed and performed. Its effect in improving oral health practices and oral hygiene status was observed throughout the program. This indicates that the implementation of primary oral health services for the prevention of periodontal disease working at rural community health centers could contribute towards resolving regional imbalances in areas with lower dental service accessibility.