Oral Health Literacy and Oral Health Behavior among Adolescents in Babol 2019

Background: The process of obtaining oral health information, evaluating its concepts and using appropriate prevention and treatment processes in the field of Oral health literacy (OHL) is within the scope of health literacy and is the link between culture and society, health system, education system, and oral health consequences. The purpose of the current study was to investigate OHL in first grade high school students in Babol. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study on 383 high school students in Babol 2019 using multi-stage cluster sampling method in the first stage of school selection and in the second stage of class selection. The data were collected using demographic, oral health behaviors assessment and Oral Health Literacy Questionnaire. OHL questionnaire have 17 questions in four sections of reading comprehension, numeracy, listening and decision making. Regression analysis, Anova, T-test, and chi square test were used for data analysis (SPSS 23). Findings: The mean score of students OHL was 8.33 ± 2.004, and 11.7%, 26.1%, and 61.9% of the students were with adequate, borderline, and inadequate levels of OHL, respectively. According to the analysis, OHL had a significant relationship with income, father’s education, tooth brushing, and use of beverage foods. Conclusion: The results showed that OHL was insufficient among students, and more efforts and interventions were required to improve oral health and increase oral health literacy among students.