Dental health practices in Norwegian adults

A nationwide sample of 1511 Norwegian adults were interviewed in 1979-80 concerning health habits, including dental habits. While daily toothbrushing and regular treatment attendance appeared to have become the rule among young and middle aged individuals, use of dental floss and especially of fluoride tablets or rinses, still are the exception. Dental health habits were clustered around the variable treatment attendance with slightly different patterns for men and for women. Measures of sugar consumptions were only slightly correlated with background variables and dental health behavior. While the latter was socially dependent, consumption of sugar probably was attached to personal characteristics or situational factors. The correlations between dental health behavior and other health behavior practices were generally weak, and somewhat different for men and women. Two separate types of motives for preventive behavior were distinguished between: health motives and cosmetic motives.