Thesis (M.S.)--California State University, Northridge. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MSc. Dentistry)-- University of the Western Cape, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-54).

Thesis (MChD- Community Dentistry) -- University of the Western Cape, 2008. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 89-96).

Thesis--Helsinki. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-53).

Preventive dental programs designed to reduce the incidence of gingivitis and periodontal disease have met with only limited success. The advent of behavioural technology offered a possible application to this problem. The present study examined the effects of two behavioural techniques, the Premack Principle and self-monitoring, on the maintenance of preventive dental health behaviour. Experiment 1 attempted to determine the validity of the Premack Principle using both toothbrushing and flossing as instrumental and contingent responses. Twelve female students of a dental assisting instructional program were exposed to various baseline and contingency conditions of brushing and flossing, daily for 11 weeks, according to a single-subject reversal design. When access to the contingent response was prevented, six of the twelve subjects showed a reliable increase in instrumental responding. Compared to baseline performance, six of seven subjects and four of twelve subjects evidenced reinforcement effects due to a contingency which allowed unlimited and. limited access, respectively, to the contingent response. However, increases in instrumental responding observed during these conditions failed to surpass those observed when access to contingent responding was prevented, in all but three subjects. These results would suggest that many observed increases in instrumental responding which are often cited as evidence supporting the Premack Principle may be due in fact simply to the unavailability of the contingent response. Additional theoretical implications of these findings were discussed. Experiment 2 factorially compared two levels of the Premack Principle (contingency vs. no contingency between flossing and brushing) with three levels of self-monitoring (no SM, SM-frequency, and SM-frequency plus evaluation). Ninety first and second year university student volunteers were assigned to one of six treatment groups. Instruction in brushing and flossing technique as well as application of the appropriate experimental manipulation was provided in two instructional sessions. Subjects' oral hygiene was assessed according to a gingival index and a plaque index before, one month following, and seven months following instruction.. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed only a significant Assessment effect. All treatment groups showed an equivalent large degree of improvement in oral hygiene from pre- to one month postinstruction. Improved plaque scores were maintained over the six-month follow-up period; gingival scores, however, were not. A no-treatment control group differed from the six treatment groups only at the one-month postinstructional assessment. These results show.that instructions to implement a contingency between flossing and brushing, and different levels of self-monitoring, failed to augment the short-term gains in oral hygiene produced by instruction in brushing and flossing technique per se. None of the experimental components differentially contributed to maintenance. A third and final experiment examined the effect of the Premack Principle on the maintenance of.effective brushing and flossing within a private dental clinic. Thirty dental patients were alternately assigned to an experimental Premack Principle group or a control group. Subjects of both groups received two sessions of individualized instruction in oral hygiene techniques. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed only a significant Assessment effect, from pre-to three months postinstruction, only for plaque, but not gingival, scores. Instructions to impose a contingency between flossing and brushing failed to produce an effect. The results of this study demonstrated that neither self-monitoring nor instructions to impose a contingency between flossing and brushing contributed to the maintenance of effective oral hygiene behaviour. Self-management programs must become more concerned with the issue of maintenance, particularly following cessation of experimental or therapeutic contact. Implications for maintenance strategies were discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / The Gauteng province is divided into 5 districts each of which have a public based oral health programme. Each district provides oral health treatments such as dental extractions with treatment of pain and sepsis, preventive dentistry, simple restorations, removable prosthodontics (complete and partial dentures) and minor oral surgery in selected facilities. The main treatment modality in most government based dental clinics is dental extractions (Department of Health, 2003). This indicates the poor status of the population’s teeth. Dental caries is a condition that can be prevented if adequate efforts are made to practice preventive dentistry. Preventive dentistry has been a treatment modality that has been practiced poorly or almost completely ignored in several oral health facilities for many years. This neglect could be due to several factors such as in adequate knowledge regarding preventive dentistry procedures, poor attitude towards preventive dentistry, lack of motivation, or lack of resources (Clark, 2011). The purpose of this study is to determine why preventive dentistry has been neglected for so many years.

Estudos epidemiológicos e experimentos com animais têm demonstrado que a susceptibilidade à doença cárie é maior logo após o período pós-eruptivo dos dentes, decrescendo posteriormente. Na literatura, várias pesquisas ressaltam a importância do conhecimento das características do esmalte durante e após o processo de erupção, assim como dos mecanismos envolvidos na desmineralização dentária para o estabelecimento de medidas preventivas eficazes. Variações idade dependentes na susceptibilidade à doença cárie são de grande importância clínica. Entretanto, a literatura é escassa em estudos que avaliem as alterações no esmalte em dentes inclusos e após a erupção na cavidade bucal. O objetivo deste estudo in vitro foi avaliar a maturação do esmalte em profundidade, de dentes hígidos com diferentes idades eruptivas (antes da erupção na cavidade bucal; 2 a 3 anos após a erupção; 4 a 10 anos após a erupção; e com mais de 10 anos após a erupção) por meio da microdureza longitudinal. Foram utilizados 12 espécimes de esmalte de dentes hígidos de humano para cada idade eruptiva. A comparação entre a microdureza longitudinal das diferentes idades e entre as diferentes profundidades foi realizada por meio da Análise de Variância a dois critérios (ANOVA), adotando-se um nível de significância de 5%. De acordo com a metodologia adotada na presente pesquisa, foi possível concluir que houve diferença entre a microdureza longitudinal dos espécimes com diferentes idades eruptivas em todas as profundidades estudadas, evidenciando-se um comportamento crescente da mineralização quanto maior a idade eruptiva. Pôde-se observar ainda uma tendência crescente dos valores da microdureza quanto maior a profundidade do esmalte, em todos os grupos de idade. / Epidemiologic studies and caries experiments with animals have suggested that caries susceptibility of teeth decreases with age. Many researches in literature, stands out the importance of the enamel characteristics knowledge during and after the eruption process, as well as of the involved mechanisms in dental demineralization in order to establish efficient methods of prevention. Age-dependent variations in the susceptibility to caries lesions are of great clinical importance. However, literature is scarce in studies that evaluate the alterations that occur in the unerupted teeth enamel and after its eruption in the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in vitro, the maturation in depth of sound teeth enamel with different eruptive ages (before the eruption in the mouth, 2 to 3 years after the eruption; 4 to10 years after the eruption; and over 10 years after the eruption) through the longitudinal microhardness. We used 12 specimens of sound teeth enamel for each eruptive age. The comparison between the longitudinal microhardness of the different eruptive ages and in different depths was performed by analysis of variance with two criteria (ANOVA), adopting a significance level of 5%. According to the methodology adopted in this research, it was possible to conclude that there was a difference between the longitudinal microhardness of specimens with different eruptive ages at all depths, revealing an increase of the mineralization with age. It was observed also an increasing trend of the values of microhardness as the enamel depth increased, in all age groups studied.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.) --University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at San Antonio, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Doctor of Public Administration)--University of La Verne, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-154).