Developing Brushing Performance in Second Graders through Behavior Modification

Abstract

DENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION in school classrooms traditionally puts primary emphasis on knowledge gain, with little emphasis on the behavioral objective of improved dental health practices. This fact was pointed out clearly in the nationwide School Health Education Study (1). The study indicated that although children of all ages receive some form of dental health instruction in a majority of public schools in the United States, by the sixth grade students have extremely low scores in praetices related to dental health. Thus, as in other areas of health behavior, a real difference exists between dental health knowledge and dental health practices. The common didactic or demonstration approach to dental health education in school classrooms has consisted of a single session conducted by the teacher, a dentist, or both, or by a hygienist, most often during National Children's Dental Health Week. Podshadley and Shannon (2) recently documented that single-lecture demonstration sessions do not, however, result in a longlasting improvement in oral practices. While the conclusions in their investigation did not rule out the possibili,ty of a cumulative improvement in oral practices as a result of single annual dental health education programs, these authors recommended that a program with a more comprehensive approach for teaching the importance of, and methods for, achieving good oral hygiene be developed. They also recommended rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs. Dr. Martens is associate professor, Ms. Frazier is assistant professor, Mrs. Hirt is instructor, Dr. Meskin is professor, and Mr. Proshek is instructor in the Division of Health Ecology, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota. This paper was presented at the 49th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Chicago, March 1971. Tearsheet requests to Leslie V. Martens, DDS, Division of Health Ecology, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 55455.