Adolescents' perceptions of oral health and influencing factors: a qualitative study

Abstract

Accounts of self-perceptions of oral health have hitherto been rare, although they are of great interest for strategies in health promotion. The objective of this study was to increase our knowledge of adolescents' perceptions of oral health and influencing factors. Semi-structured interviews of 17 Swedish adolescents were performed. Criteria for strategic sampling were age (15, 18 years), gender (male, female), and dental health (healthy, unhealthy). Data were analyzed according to the constant comparative method. Areas of focus were general oral health, personal oral health, dental care, and life-style issues. Oral health awareness was generally low among the informants. Two categories of oral health were identified: action (the physical things we do to effect the condition of our mouths) and condition (the physical status of the mouth). Conditional aspects were most frequent in evaluations of personal oral health. The informants considered their possibilities to influence oral health limited. Perceptions of influences on oral health were related to personal and professional care, social support and impact, and external factors. 'Concern for oral health' was derived as the core category in perceived influence on oral health. The study indicates that it is important to find factors that enhance adolescents' awareness of their own resources and to seek mechanisms that govern internalization. There is a need to find strategies to convey such knowledge to the intermediaries: dental personnel and parents.

Oral pain and associated factors among adolescents in northern Finland

“…Further, the findings by Myers et al (49) suggest that gender socialization influences young people's pain responses and highlight the importance of a multifactorial developmental approach to studying the impact of gender socialization on the emergence of sex differences in pain responses after puberty. Supportive parenting styles, social supports and controls, good parental examples and other positive family characteristics have been associated with better perceived oral health (31,32,(34)(35)(36)40), while living with single parents or other people than parents is a higher likelihood for oral pain (51). Among adolescents who smoke, those who reported a lack of attentiveness by their parents showed a decreased risk of reporting oral pain.…”

“…Earlier studies have paid little attention to the amount of support children receive from their social network, primarily their parents, support which has been suggested as contributing to child's oral health (31,32). Families' goals and values are pursued through daily routines that affect the family's health (33).…”

Conhecimento Odontológico e Comportamento de Retorno de Escolares em Função do Tipo de Instituição (Pública ou Privada)

“…O tratamento odontológico deve basear-se na diminuição do risco do paciente a doença, mediante atendimento integral, no qual os aspectos educati vos, preventi vos e curati vos devem ser abordados de maneira conjunta e direcionada de acordo com a necessidade do paciente 6,7 . A manutenção preventi va tem sido considerada uma etapa imprescindível no tratamento, principalmente para a população infanti l e jovem 8,9 , pois tal conduta permite o monitoramento periódico do paciente para identi fi car precocemente qualquer desequilíbrio de saúde, além da educação conti nuada tanto das crianças quanto de seus responsáveis, atuando de maneira a prevenir novos surtos da doença e garanti r a longevidade dos tratamentos executados 6,10 . Desta forma, de nada vale a execução de procedimentos preventi vos se o paciente não for constantemente reavaliado, pois os esforços iniciais para a manutenção da saúde bucal irão se perder com o tempo 11 .…”

Knowledge and awareness on dietary practice influencing oral hygiene among adults in rural areas of thiruvallur district

“…Dhanalakshmi.S* 1 ., Dhanraj 2 and Ashok 3 Saveetha Dental College, Chennai-600077, Tamilnadu, India…”

“…We consume many things which has a very bad effect on our teeth.This survey was carried to create a awareness on oral hygiene to the people in rural area. (3) Preventive dental knowledge is the precursor of the reduction of caries prevalence. 8 It was noticed that young children's oral health conditions were influenced by their parents' knowledge of dental preventive measures.…”