published_or_final_version / abstract / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>Dental caries is a huge problem among the previously disadvantaged population. Early childhood caries is a problem with infants. This thesis contained information concerning the parents knowledge about their children's oral health and their own personal details. These children were all in the age group 2-5 years. The study findings suggest that parent and parents-to-be, need to be informed on oral health issues concerning their children. This should not solely be the task of dentists but other health care workers as well.</p>

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-141)

<p>Dental caries is a huge problem among the previously disadvantaged population. Early childhood caries is a problem with infants. This thesis contained information concerning the parents knowledge about their children's oral health and their own personal details. These children were all in the age group 2-5 years. The study findings suggest that parent and parents-to-be, need to be informed on oral health issues concerning their children. This should not solely be the task of dentists but other health care workers as well.</p>

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MChD (Periodontics and Oral Medicine))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Oral Pathology and Oral Biology / unrestricted

Since dental caries in children remains a significant public health problem, this study developed a brief cartoon video e-health intervention focused on parents’ ensuring their children’s engagement in three key oral health behaviors: brushing twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste, avoiding the consumption of large quantities of sugar-containing foods and beverages, and visiting the dentist every six months. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the cartoon video as a brief e-health intervention, and to identify significant predictors of parental self-efficacy to ensure their children’s engagement in recommended oral health behaviors after viewing an animated video with their child. The sample included 75 parents with a child aged six to eight years. Parents were mostly female (85%, n = 63), white (84.0%, n = 63), with a mean age of 35.2 years (SD = 5.5), mean educational level between a two- and four-years of college, and mean household income of $20,000 to $39,000 per year. Parents had one or two children (51.8%, n = 39) with a mean age of 6.72 years who were mostly boys (65.3%, n = 49) in public school (80.0%, n = 60). Findings indicated the brief e-health cartoon was an effective intervention, given significant changes from pre-video to post-video in mean scores for: parent oral health knowledge (t = –5.437, df = 74, p = 0.000); global stage of change for performing all three key oral health behaviors (t = –1.804, df = 74, p = 0.000); and, global self-efficacy for performing all three key oral health behaviors (t = –3.838, df = 74, p = 0.000). Further, most parents rated the cartoon highly and indicated they would recommend it to other parents and children. Backwards stepwise regression, controlling for social desirability, indicated higher post-video parental self-efficacy for the three recommended oral health behaviors post-video was significantly predicted by: parent female gender (B = 1.072, p = 0.000); parent was not born in the U.S. (B = –0.544, p = 0.028); parent had a partner (yes) (B = 0.707, p = 0.000); parent was a student (yes) (B = 0.933, p = 0.001); lower parent education level (B = –0.142, p = 0.021); child was not in public school (B = –0.427, p = 0.028); higher Parental Intention Scale (PI-S-3) score (B = 0.302, p = 0.011); and higher parent pre-video oral health knowledge (B = 0.313, p = 0.000)—with 55.2% of variance predicted (R2 = 0.608, adjusted R2 = 0.552) by the model.

The present study examined the separate effects of an educational program, feedback, and a token economy on the rate of brushing and flossing in the home environment.

This study implemented two behavior management strategies, self-monitoring and monetary incentives, in a dental clinic and a private periodontal practice to explore the effects of these intervention strategies on subjects' dental flossing frequencies and to compare these strategies to standard educational procedures. Group analysis of four dependent variables generally showed minimal impact of the intervention strategies on flossing frequency. However, when the percentages of subjects within groups who improved on the dependent measures were evaluated, differential effects for some dependent variables were noted between settings and among intervention strategies. Based on those findings, the behavioral strategies of self-monitoring and monetary incentives did appear to enhance the effectiveness of education. Multimodal measures were used to assess changes in the target behavior. The general lack of covariance found among the dependent measures used in this study demonstrated that the interpretation varied with the choice of dependent variable. This finding suggested that past researchers, who used only physiological dependent measures to assess changes in the frequencies of dental flossing and brushing behaviors, should have selected more direct measures of the targeted behaviors (e.g. unobtrusive measures or direct observations). / M.S.

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

Epidemiological data reveal that one of the most common diseases in the world is dental disease. Scientific knowledge is available to prevent the vast majority of dental disease. Thus, individuals are not taking the necessary action to prevent caries and periodontal disease. Dental professionals try to facilitate primary prevention of disease through education and the correction of skill deficits with patients. Still billions of dollars are spent each year in the treatment of these diseases. This presents a major health and economic liability and demonstrates a clear need to implement additional behavioral management techniques in the field of dentistry. This study implements two behavioral management strategies, self-monitoring and monetary incentives, in a free dental clinic to explore the effects of these treatments on subject"s dental flossing rate. / M.S.