Abstract: Objective To explore the status and influencing factors of oral hygiene behavior among urban adult residents in Nanjing City, and to offer references for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. Methods A stratified random sampling approach was employed to investigate the oral hygiene behavior of urban adult residents in Nanjing City from June to December 2022. The descriptive epidemiological method was utilized to analyze the status of oral hygiene behavior, and the influencing factors were analyzed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 1 680 urban adult residents in Nanjing City were investigated, and 1 529 effective subjects were obtained, with an effective rate of 91.01%. There were 315 cases with good oral hygiene behavior, accounting for a good rate of 20.60%. There were 1 214 cases of poor oral hygiene behavior, with a poor rate of 79.40%. The top three major poor items were brushing time < 3 min, toothbrush use time ≥ 3 months, and irregular oral examination. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that gender (female OR=1.869), age (OR=0.183), education level (college degree or above OR=2.331), history of oral diseases (OR=0.674), dental anxiety (OR=0.266), and source of oral hygiene knowledge (medical institution OR=3.251) were the influencing factors of oral hygiene behavior among urban adult residents in Nanjing City (all P<0.05). Conclusions The oral hygiene behavior of urban adult residents in Nanjing City requires improvement, particularly in aspects such as brushing time, toothbrush use time, and regular oral examinations, which are affected by multiple factors. Oral health education and oral disease prevention and intervention measures can be strengthened based on individual conditions, thereby guiding residents to establish good oral hygiene habits and enhance oral health status.

Key words: Oral hygiene behavior, Oral health, Influencing factor