Improvement of oral hygiene habits: a psychological approach 2‐year data

Abstract

The present communication attempts to determine the effects of individual interviews, conducted by a psychologist, on unmotivated patients' oral hygiene habits. For this investigation, 26 subjects were selected according to the following main criteria: (a) patients with good motor skills (to make sure that poor hygiene was due to poor compliance and not to poor dexterity); (b) patients suffering from periodontitis of Cl II and Cl III of the Modified Nomenclature of the American Academy of Periodontology; (c) patients, who had never been taught toothbrushing techniques prior to attending 4 routine sessions on oral hygiene, and who in spite of understanding the pathogenic relation between plaque and disease, were unable to reach a plaque index score beneath the 50% level. The 26 selected patients were divided randomly into 2 equal groups. Subjects assigned to the 1st group were submitted to interviews with a psychologist, whereas those of the 2nd group were not (control group). Throughout the investigation period, the plaque indices were scored for both groups at 3-month intervals. Results revealed a decrease of plaque index scores in the interviewed group, from 68% to 49%. During the same period, the non-interviewed group exhibited virtually no change.

Application of self‐regulation theory and motivational interview for improving oral hygiene: a randomized controlled trial

“…Our results showed that the experimental group performed better than the control group, indicating that behaviour could not be changed by educational information alone. These findings are in line with those of other studies in which the controls groups exhibited virtually no change (Alcouffe , Little et al. ) Because no confounding factors were found, meaning that the gender, the age, the number of residual tooth and the smoking status did not interfere with the level of PI before and after intervention, there should be no risk in generalizing from these results.…”

“…The study of addictions and tobacco habits used this kind of intervention and noted good effects on patient compliance. This type of interview seems to include principles similar to those described by Alcouffe a few years ago and applied to oral hygiene motivation (Alcouffe ). A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials showed that motivational interviewing outperforms traditional advice providing (Rubak et al.…”

Behavioral Interventions on Periodontitis Patients to Improve Oral Hygiene: A Systematic Review

“…Among the 21 selected studies, 16 were RCT [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 ], and 5 were NRCTs [ 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ] published before October 2022. The sample sizes ranged from 20 to 297 people, with follow-up intervals ranging from 1 month to 3 years.…”

“…In a long-term RCT, 26 patients were included to examine the psychological blocks of unmotivated periodontitis patients using an exploratory listening technique by a psychologist. The authors concluded that there was a significant treatment effect in the test group whose PI improved to below 50% after 1 year, whereas, in group C (control), the majority of patients remained stable or worsened [ 75 ].…”

Long‐term impact of powered toothbrush on oral health: 11‐year cohort study

“…Usually, brushing skills are acquired through parents, and it takes time to actually master them perfectly (Unkel, Fenton, Hobbs, & Frere, ). If an improper technique is detected at a later point of life, it is difficult to modify it (Alcouffe, ). Furthermore, the fine motor skills might degrade with ageing and could impair maintaining proper oral hygiene in elderly people (Felder, Reveal, Lemon, & Brown, ; Hitz Lindenmüller & Lambrecht, ).…”