| Objective: We conducted oral health surveys and oral disease screenings on pilots who participated in health recuperation,and initially analyzed the correlation between their oral diseases and flight factors(flight duration,type of aircraft,etc.),and clarified the impact of the diseases on the pilot’s work and life.So as to fully understand the current situation of the oral health of our military pilots,and provide systematic,accurate and detailed information and evidence for our military aviation health service department to formulate oral health care strategies for pilots.Materials and methods: The 886 male pilots who came to a rehabilitation center of the joint logistic force for health recuperation from July 2019 to September 2020.Referring to "The Fourth National Oral Health Epidemiological Survey Program" and "Military Oral Health Questionnaire",combined with the purpose of this survey,the questionnaire and oral disease questionnaire were designed.The general situation of pilots,lifestyle affecting oral health,daily cleaning methods of teeth,treatment of oral diseases,and access to oral health knowledge were investigated by independent response.Under the LED light source of the dental treatment chair,the prevalence of aviation toothache,caries,periodontal disease,dentition defect,stained teeth and acidosis of the pilots were examined in a combination of inquiry,visual inspection and probing by using oral glasses,periodontal probes,etc.Before the investigation,the investigators of this study were trained on the investigation standard and tested for reliability,and the kappa value was above 0.80.After verification,SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis.The continuous variables were expressed as mean ± standard deviation(x? ± s),and the classified variables were expressed as rate/constituent ratio(%).The corresponding t-test,Chi square test,one-way ANOVA and other statistical methods were used for comparison.P < 0.05 showed that the difference was statistically significant.Results:(1)General situation: 886 male pilots were investigated,ranging in age from 23 to 54 years old,with an average age of 36.5 ± 9.3 years old.Urban growth environment personnel accounted for 45.4%,and rural growth environment personnel accounted for 54.6%.Fighter pilots accounted for 35.3%,transport pilots 43.8% and helicopter pilots 20.9%.43.2% of the pilots had less than 1500 flight hours,45.6% had1500-3000 flight hours,and 11.2% had more than 3000 flight hours.(2)Oral health behavior: In the aspect of lifestyle affecting oral health,the smoking rate and chocolate consumption rate of pilots were 69.0% and 40.9% respectively,while the consumption rate of acid drinks was almost the same as that of Chinese men.In terms of oral hygiene habits,all pilots can brush their teeth every day,and 85.0% of them can brush their teeth both in the morning and evening,but 76.0% of them do not master the correct method.And 40.3%-50.9% of the pilots did not know how to reasonably choose toothpaste and toothbrush,and only 26.9% of the pilots used dental floss as the main cleaning tool.In the treatment of oral diseases,33.3% of the pilots preferred the rehabilitation centers,and only 2.6% chose flight station clinics.The main reasons for their inability to visit in time were busy work,lack of departments of stomatology for treatment and fear of pain.In the way of acquiring oral health knowledge,63.5% of them mainly rely on network media,followed by 22.2% through professional dentists.(3)The prevalence of oral diseases and its correlation with flight characteristics: The detection rate of oral diseases was 75.7%.The main diseases were periodontal disease(65.7%),dental caries(30.6%),dental fluorosis(24.4%),dentition defect(17.3%),acidosis(10.9%),tetracycline(10.2%)and aviation toothache(8.1%),and about 2/3 of the pilots suffered from more than two kinds of oral diseases at the same time.In the aspect of the relationship between oral diseases and flight duration and aircraft type: the pilots with longer flight duration had more periodontitis,dentition defect and tetracycline teeth,while the pilots with shorter flight duration were more likely to suffer from acidosis.The prevalence of dental caries,periodontitis and periodontal hygiene were higher in transport pilots,while aviation toothache and gingivitis were more common in fighter pilots.In addition,we found that oral diseases have different degrees of impact on pilots’ chewing,pronunciation,mental psychology and flight training,which should be paid great attention by military health service departments.Conclusion: The oral health knowledge of our military pilots needs to be enriched,oral health behavior needs to be improved,the prevalence of oral diseases is still high,and diseases have a certain impact on flight work. |
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