Understanding the determinants of preventive oral health behaviours

Achieving oral health for the client is the goal of dental hygiene practice. The two major threats to oral health, dental caries and periodontal disease, can almost always be controlled if clients adopt appropriate oral health behaviours. A review of the literature indicates that many factors determine whether or not a client will adopt appropriate oral health behaviours. These factors include demographics, socialization, emotional status, perceptions and dental beliefs. Determining a client's attitudes towards oral health requires the active participation of both the client and the dental hygienist. Interview techniques borrowed from participatory and ethnographic research can be used during the assessment phase of the dental hygiene process to allow the dental hygienist to systematically explore the factors that may affect the practice of preventive oral health behaviours. Data gathered during this phase can then be used in the planning phase of the dental hygiene process to develop a strategy which is specifically designed to meet the assessed needs of the individual client.