Enhancing Oral Health via Sense of Coherence

Abstract

Sense of coherence (SOC) has been related to oral health behaviors and oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in observational studies. This cluster-randomized trial aimed to test the effect of an intervention to enhance SOC on OHRQoL in children. Twelve primary schools were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The intervention was comprised of 7 sessions over 2 mos, focusing on child participation and empowerment. The first 4 sessions were classroom activities, and the last 3 involved working on healthy school projects. Trained teachers who received a one-day course delivered the intervention. Socio-demographic and clinical data, together with self-reported measures of OHRQoL, SOC, and oral health beliefs, were obtained from 261 total 10- to 12-year-olds (133 in the intervention and 128 in the control groups). Data were collected at baseline, 2 wks after the intervention, and at three-month follow-up. Mixed-effects models indicated that the intervention increased SOC and improved OHRQoL, together with oral health beliefs and gingival health. The findings offer experimental evidence that OHRQoL can be influenced by SOC. SOC may also provide an avenue for oral health promotion (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000547842).

Salutogenesis: Sense of Coherence in Childhood and in Families

“…This trend followed former studies that revealed that persons with a strong SOC tended to manage stress better, whereas persons with a poor SOC tended to be more sensitive to health challenges and illness (Lundberg & Nystrom, 1994). Recent multiple researches on SOC and health have identified SOC as a predictor of health and health behavior (Berntsson & Gustafsson, 2000;Bonanato et al, 2009;Forinder, Löf, & Winiarski, 2005;Groholt, Stigum, Nordhagen, & Kohler, 2003;Honkinen, Suominen, Valimaa, Helenius, & Rautava, 2005;Jellesma, Rieffe, Terwogt, & Kneepkens, 2006;Krause, 2011;Løndal, 2010;Nammontri, Robinson, & Baker, 2013;Ray, Suominen, & Roos, 2009;Torsheim, Aaroe, & Wold, 2001).…”

“…The intervention provided evidence that SOC influenced oral health-related quality of life (Nammontri et al, 2013). Positive health beliefs and higher levels of SOC were found to predict positive health beliefs and fewer symptoms.…”

What is the value of orthodontic treatment?

“…Orth and colleagues 38 found that better life outcomes were usually a consequence of, rather than a cause of high self-esteem. It has also been found that psychological factors might explain more about the impact of dental disorders upon individuals than their clinical symptoms [39][40][41][42][43] . In other words, with low self-esteem much more than a person with high self-esteem.…”

Psychometric assessment of the short‐form Child Perceptions Questionnaire: an international collaborative study

“…Work on child measures has been about a decade behind, but it is rapidly catching up, with the emergence of a number of child OHRQoL measures in recent years. These include the 37-item Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ [11][12][13][14] 1 , the 34-item Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) 2 and the eight-item Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performance scale (CHILD-OIDP) 3 .…”