What influences the provision and reception of oral health education? A narrative review of the literature

Abstract

Objectives: Most common diseases of the mouth are preventable through behavioural changes, oral hygiene routines and regular professional care. Research suggests dental professionals may prioritize clinical experience, personal values and preferences over evidence when delivering such interventions. Research also suggests variable rates of patient behaviour change following oral health education (OHE) interactions. This review explores the literature to answer the question: what factors influence the provision and reception of OHE messages and the wider OHE process? Methods: A structured search of literature was carried out with databases covering a range of academic disciplines (healthcare sciences, social sciences, education). Key words/terms were searched to elicit papers published since 1998. Citation mining (relevant citations within papers) and citation tracking (papers citing relevant papers)were also used. Recurring themes within the papers were identified and coded using NVivo12 and presented in a conceptual model. Results:The studies analysed tended to employ small-scale surveys, larger-scale surveys (some with low response rates), or interview studies of varying sizes. There was also a limited number of review papers. However, several key messages were identified regarding dental professionals' and patients' views on OHE and the factors that influence its provision. Factors that were identified related to the wider social and policy context (macro), community-level factors (meso), the individual practitioner and patient (micro), factors that influenced the nature of OHE interaction and any resulting behaviour change, and how the outcomes of the process influence future OHE interactions for both parties. Conclusions:The literature highlighted how factors influence the OHE process before, during and after the educational interaction. The resultant conceptual model acknowledges the influence of wider 'upstream' factors alongside interpersonal and individual influences which should be taken into consideration when developing OHE interventions.

'It's their mouth at the end of the day': dental professionals' reactions to oral health education outcomes

“…The interviews were conducted as part of a wider study on OHE provision in general dental practices. 2 The study was conducted both before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 restrictions (December 2019 to March 2020), case study dental teams were recruited through letters to the practice and semi-structured interviews with all members of the dental team were conducted face-to-face in the practices, either one-to-one or in together in small focus groups if requested (identified by the prefix 'CS' in quotations).…”

“…1 However, the factors that influence oral health behaviour, OHE interactions and their outcomes are complex. 2,3,4,5,6 When such complex factors are not reflected on by dental professionals, if patients do not follow advice, for whatever reason, it may lead to disappointment and scepticism for future attempts. 7 This paper addresses the effect of patient outcomes following OHE on dental professionals.…”