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Table 4 Dental hygiene behaviors of participants

From: Oral hygiene, prevalence of gingivitis, and associated risk factors among pregnant women in Sarlahi District, Nepal

Characteristic

All

Clinical health

Clinical gingivitis

Mean difference / OR (95% CI)a

Cleaning frequency (times per day)

 1

1030 (72.6)

618 (72.6)

412 (72.7)

Ref

  ≥ 2

388 (27.4)

233 (27.4)

155 (27.3)

1.00 (0.79, 1.27)

Cleaning frequency (times per week)

 1–6

56 (3.9)

28 (3.3)

28 (4.9)

Ref

 7–13

1148 (80.9)

702 (82.4)

446 (78.7)

0.64 (0.37, 1.09)

  ≥ 14

215 (15.2)

122 (14.3)

93 (16.4)

0.76 (0.42, 1.37)

Cleaning timingb

 Morning

1407 (99.2)

845 (99.4)

562 (98.9)

0.55 (0.17, 1.82)

 Afternoon

172 (12.1)

96 (11.3)

76 (13.4)

1.22 (0.88, 1.68)

 Evening

291 (20.5)

175 (20.5)

116 (20.4)

0.99 (0.76, 1.29)

 After meals

239 (16.8)

140 (16.4)

99 (17.4)

1.07 (0.81, 1.42)

 After sweets

16 (1.1)

9 (1.1)

7 (1.2)

1.17 (0.43, 3.16)

Cleaning duration

 Minutes (mean ± SD)

10.0 ± 10.3

10.1 ± 10.3

9.7 ± 10.3

−0.4 (−1.5, 0.7)

Cleaning duration (mins)

 1–2

90 (6.4)

50 (5.9)

40 (7.1)

Ref

 3–10

1070 (75.7)

645 (76.2)

425 (75.0)

0.82 (0.53, 1.27)

 11–29

105 (7.4)

65 (7.7)

40 (7.1)

0.77 (0.43, 1.36)

  ≥ 30

149 (10.5)

87 (10.3)

62 (10.9)

0.89 (0.53, 1.51)

Instrument useb

 Toothbrush

1044 (73.5)

635 (74.5)

409 (72.0)

0.88 (0.69, 1.12)

 Datiwan

626 (43.1)

359 (41.3)

267 (45.9)

1.21 (0.98, 1.49)

 Finger

210 (14.8)

126 (14.8)

84 (14.8)

1.00 (0.74, 1.35)

Brush replacement frequency (months)

 1–2

720 (69.8)

442 (71.1)

278 (68.0)

Ref

 3–6

275 (26.7)

156 (25.1)

119 (29.1)

1.21 (0.91, 1.61)

  ≥ 7

36 (3.5)

24 (3.9)

12 (2.9)

0.79 (0.39, 1.62)

Dentifrice use (at least once per week)b

 Toothpaste

817 (57.5)

497 (58.3)

320 (56.3)

0.92 (0.74, 1.14)

 Danta munjhan powder

229 (16.1)

138 (16.2)

91 (16.0)

0.99 (0.74, 1.32)

 Charcoal

39 (2.7)

23 (2.7)

16 (2.8)

1.04 (0.55, 2.00)

 Other

54 (3.8)

30 (3.5)

24 (4.2)

1.21 (0.70, 2.09)

Fluoride in toothpaste

 No

455 (42.8)

274 (42.2)

181 (43.6)

Ref

 Yes

584 (54.9)

361 (55.6)

223 (53.7)

0.94 (0.73, 1.20)

 Don’t know

25 (2.3)

14 (2.2)

11 (2.7)

1.19 (0.53, 2.68)

New behaviors adopted during pregnancyb

 More teeth cleaning

54 (3.8)

35 (4.1)

19 (3.3)

0.81 (0.46, 1.43)

 Less teeth cleaning

5 (0.4)

4 (0.5)

1 (0.2)

0.37 (0.04, 3.35)

 New instrument

28 (2.0)

13 (1.5)

15 (2.6)

1.75 (0.83, 3.71)

 New dentifrice

8 (0.6)

6 (0.7)

2 (0.4)

0.50 (0.10, 2.48)

  1. Data presented as No. (%) unless otherwise noted
  2. aT-test or unadjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval as appropriate
  3. bMultiple responses possible