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Oral hygiene behavior and periodontal status in European adolescents: an overview
Author(s) -
Honkala Eino,
Freeman Ruth
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1988.tb01752.x
Subject(s) - medicine , tooth brushing , gingivitis , oral hygiene , environmental health , dentistry , hygiene , periodontal disease , health education , disease , affect (linguistics) , public health , nursing , toothbrush , pathology , psychology , brush , communication , electrical engineering , engineering
The object of this review is to examine tooth brushing as a health behavior in European adolescents. The aims are to investigate the role of environmental and social factors on tooth brushing as a health behavior, to illustrate the importance of such factors in the prevention of periodontal diseases and to demonstrate how a knowledge of these factors can aid the development of specific health education programs. In order to do this the results of many studies concerned with oral hygiene behavior from different European countries have been examined. It is from the detailed study of these various European investigations that the results section is composed. The findings from this review demonstrate that tooth brushing as a health behavior is influenced by both environmental and social factors, that both of these factors affect the incidence of gingivitis and periodontal disease in the countries examined, and that when they are incorporated into health education programs based on the community development approach they can aid behavior change.