Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
March 2012
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Vol:
29
Issue:
1

Promoting Positive Health Behaviours – ‘Tooth Worm’ Phenomenon and its Implications

doi:10.1922/CDH_2697Gao07

‘Tooth worm’ is a traditional belief about the pathogen of dental caries (tooth decay). Nevertheless, in our previous study, parental ‘tooth worm’ belief was linked to a reduced caries risk of their children. Objectives: This study aimed to further characterize the impact of parental ‘tooth worm’ belief on their children’s caries experience and its psychobehavioural mechanisms. Basic Research Design: analytic observational study. Setting: Thirteen randomly selected kindergartens in Singapore. Participants: 1,782 preschoolers aged 3-6 years. Methods: Each child received an oral examination and microbiological tests. Parents completed a self-administered questionnaire on their socio-demographic background, oral health knowledge/attitude and child’s oral health habits. Results: Multivariate analysis confirmed a reduced chance of ‘high caries rate’ (number of affected teeth>2) among children whose parents held the ‘tooth worm’ belief (Odds Ratio=0.41; 95% Confidence Interval=0.19-0.89). With such perception among parents, children brushed their teeth more frequently (p=0.042). Since no difference in oral hygiene was observed, the health benefit of the “tooth worm” perception may be acquired through the delivery of fluoride (an agent with proven anti-caries effect) during frequent toothbrushing episodes. Conclusions: This study revealed a ‘tooth worm’ phenomenon, indicating that parental ‘tooth worm’ belief is associated with early establishment of regular toothbrushing habit and reduction of dental caries in children. This phenomenon and its psychobehavioural mechanisms, enriching our understanding of oral health behaviours, have implications for effective health education.

Key words: health belief, health behaviour, culture, oral health, oral hygiene

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
55
Page End
61
Authors
X.L. Gao, C.Y.S. Hsu, Y.C. Xu, T. Loh, D. Koh, H.B. Hwarng

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  1. Editorial - Dental Public Health in Action
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  1. Acknowledgement of Referees
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  1. A description of a specialist led primary care based oral surgery service
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  1. The caries experience of 11 to 12 year-old children in Scotland and Wales and 12 year-olds in England in 2008-2009: Reports of co-ordinated surveys using BASCD methodology
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  1. Assessment of caries experience in epidemiological surveys: a review
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  1. Dental caries experience among 12-year-old children in Northwest Russia
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  1. Variations in caries diagnoses and treatment recommendations and their impacts on the costs of oral health care
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  1. Caries prevalence of 5, 12 and 15-year-old Greek children: A national pathfinder survey
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  1. The use of occlusal indices in high-impact literature
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  1. Oral health status of a group of illicit drug users in Delhi, India
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  1. Development and testing of a theory-based behavioural change intervention: A pilot investigation in a nursery school in a deprived area of Scotland
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  1. Relationship of Periodontal Disease to Pre-term Low Birth Weight Infants in a Selected Population - A Prospective Study.
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  1. Dental Enamel Defects in Italian Children with Cystic Fibrosis: an observational study
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