Effectiveness of carbonated beverage education on dental students' knowledge and behavioral intent

The purpose of this paper is to describe educational efforts to increase dental students' knowledge concerning oral and systemic health effects of carbonated beverage (soda/pop) consumption. Multiple choice pre- and post-tests were developed and administered to seventy-three first-year dental students. An educational brochure was developed and distributed during a lecture on the effects of soda/pop consumption, and four days later, a post-test was administered. Three groups of third-year dental students (n = 19, 15, 17, respectively) also completed the pre- and post-tests with different educational interventions for each group. Results indicated that the first-year dental students' knowledge of the effects of soda/pop consumption improved significantly from a pre-test score of 10.8 (68 percent) to a post-test score of 14.0 (88 percent) (p < .01). On the post-test, 70 percent of the first-year dental students who reported soda/pop consumption indicated that they had considered changing their soda/pop drinking habits after reading the brochure and hearing the presentation. For third-year dental students, there was no significant difference in pre- to post-test scores. This survey shows that, for first-year dental students, the combination of written and verbal education was effective in improving both knowledge and behavioral intent relative to carbonated beverage consumption.