OBJECTIVES: To make practical recommendations for improving oral hygiene behavior (OHB) potential predictors based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) were assessed. Measurements of oral health knowledge (OHK) and the expected social effect for having healthy teeth were included.METHODS: 216 recruits in the Dutch Army ground forces completed a questionnaire about oral hygiene behavior, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), intention to perform optimal OHB, OHK, and expected social outcomes.RESULTS: The multivariate regression analysis revealed that attitude and PBC explained 37.2% of the variance in intention to perform optimal oral hygiene behavior, which is a substantial proportion. Furthermore, actual oral hygiene behavior was only predicted by attitude, explaining 7.1% of the variance.CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that recruits' oral hygiene behavior may be improved by promoting a more positive attitude and especially by enhancing perceived behavior control.
The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of oral hygiene behaviour (OHB) based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) among dental care seekers in two cultural different regions: the Caribbean (Aruba/Bonaire) and Nepal. In addition, measures of oral health knowledge (OHK) and the expected social outcomes of having healthy teeth (ESO) were investigated. The main effects of the predictors as well as their interactions with region (Caribbean vs. Nepal) were examined. The interaction term contributed significantly to the amount of explained variance. In the Caribbean, OHB was determined by Attitude and Social Norms, and in Nepal by Perceived Behaviour Control and ESO. On the basis of these findings, quite different oral health care interventions are called for in developing and underdeveloped countries.
BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, the scope of dental hygiene practice was expanded in 2006. The objective of this study was to explore reasons among dentists and dental hygienists for supporting or opposing an extended scope of practice and to find explanatory factors.METHODS: A questionnaire containing pre-defined reasons and an open-ended question was distributed among 1,674 randomly selected members of two Dutch professional associations (874 dentists, 800 dental hygienists). Data were analyzed with binary logistic regression with Bayesian information criterion (BIC) model selection.RESULTS: Response were obtained from 541 practitioners (32.3%): i.e., 233 dentists (43.1%) and 308 dental hygienists (56.9%). Non-response analysis revealed no differences, and representativeness analysis showed similarities between samples and target populations. Most often, dentists reported flexible collaboration (50.2%) and dental hygienists indicated task variation (71.1%) as supportive reasons. As opposing reasons, dentists generally reported quality of care (41.2%) and dental hygienists' self-competence (22.7%). Reasons were explained by profession, gender, and new-style practitioners.CONCLUSION: Dentists and dental hygienists conveyed different reasons for supporting or opposing an extended scope of dental hygiene practice. Outcomes can be categorized as reasons related to economic, professional status, quality, job satisfaction, and flexible collaboration and are not only explained by profession.
