Association between substance use experience and oral symptoms among adolescents: The Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2024)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the association between substance use and oral symptoms among Korean adolescents. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted using raw data from the 2024 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey administered by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). A total of 53,166 adolescents with no missing data were included in the analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was performed after adjusting for potential confounders. Results: After adjusting for confounding variables, adolescents with a history of substance use were 1.28 times more likely to report tooth pain or throbbing and 1.51 times more likely to report gum pain or bleeding than those with no history of substance use. Conclusions: Substance use during adolescence was significantly associated with adverse oral symptoms. These findings highlight the need for substance use prevention programs, oral health education tailored to adolescents. and active governmentlevel policy interventions to address this growing public health concern.