Self-efficacy perceptions in oral health behavior.

The aim of this paper is to describe and understand people's views on dental self-efficacy and its formation. The qualitative data were collected by means of focused interviews with five patients selected on the basis of poor orientation to dental-care matters, measured using test scores from a previous questionnaire. The first stage of the analysis is a description of the background of the subjects from their own accounts; two proved to have internalized preventive dental beliefs and behavior deeply while two others had traumatic experiences as a reason for irregular dental appointments. One subject with poor oral health behavior seemed to have limited preventive action to his yearly dental appointment. The second stage of the analysis focuses on interpretation of the subjects' perception of self-efficacy and related comments. Among sources of self-efficacy that prove important in dental care are the cognitive, experiential, supportive and emotional dimensions, and beliefs and values learned in the family and at school. This qualitative research increases our understanding of the oral health behavior of patients and emphasizes the importance of patient-centered oral health education.

Obstacles to regular dental care related to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

The aim of this study was to test factors preventing regular dental care as put forward by persons who are extrinsically or intrinsically motivated in relation to dental care. The series consisted of 390 randomly selected young and middle-aged patients, 207 women and 183 men, visiting two occupational health centers in Oulu, Finland. Logistic regression analysis showed that the probability of being extrinsically motivated was greater among those who mentioned the purposelessness of brushing their teeth, lack of time, lack of interest, expense, laziness and failure to appreciate the seriousness of dental care as factors hindering regular dental care very much or somewhat. Thus extrinsically motivated persons seemed to propose superficial reasons and reasons related to non-appreciation of dental care more often than intrinsically motivated persons.

Intrinsic motivation in dental care.

The aim of this work was to develop a method based on the idea of intrinsic motivation for analyzing motivation problems in dental care. A questionnaire dealing with intrinsic motivation was filled in by 207 women and 183 men. Factor analysis of the scale revealed the following dimensions of internal-external motivation: independence, responsibility, vs. non-independence, interest in preserving one's own teeth as long as possible vs. preference for tooth extraction, satisfaction from brushing teeth vs. brushing for others' sake, and critical evaluation of diet vs. improper diet with carbohydrates. The reliability of the questionnaire was good (standardized item alpha .69). The individual's own sense of independence and responsibility and the idea of preserving one's own teeth for as long as possible were found to be more important for the women than for the men. A longer education was also found to be related to preserving one's own teeth as long as possible. The time of the last dental visit was positively related to independence, responsibility and the far-reaching idea of preserving one's own teeth. It can be concluded that aspects of intrinsic motivation can give additional information when trying to understand dental health behavior.

Reasons preventing regular dental care.

The aim was to determine what reasons restrict people's daily cleaning of their teeth and yearly attendance for a dental check-up, using as a theoretical background the ideas of Eichholz & Rogers on the rejection of innovation. The series consisted of young and middle-aged persons, 207 women and 183 men, who filled in a questionnaire on the above topics. The questions were phrased so as to cover different reasons for rejecting innovations. Factors analysis revealed the following factors: reasons preventing daily brushing, practical reasons, unpleasant experiences of dental care, laziness, and lack of appreciation. The reliability of the questionnaire was found to be good. Sex showed a significant correlation with reasons preventing daily brushing. Those for whom a long time had elapsed since the last visit to a dentist had more barriers relating to daily brushing, unpleasant experiences and laziness. The more educated the participants were, the fewer barriers they had in relation to the factors appreciation, unpleasant experiences, and daily brushing.

Suitability of Krathwohl's affective taxonomy for evaluating patient attitudes to dental care.

The aims were to develop a questionnaire for dental health education based on Krathwohl's taxonomy, which measures the affective domain, and to examine correlations between the attitude determined by this questionnaire and sex, age, education, and dental behavior. The material consisted of young and middle-aged persons, 206 women and 183 men, visiting two occupational health centers in Oulu. The questionnaire comprised four questions under each of three headings: preventive dentistry, gingivitis, and dental check-up. The questions under each heading were formulated to correspond to given levels in Krathwohl's taxonomy. Factor analysis showed the questionnaire to be valid and suitable for studying different levels of the affective domain. Krathwohl's taxonomy includes the notion of cumulative adoption of a value, and Guttman scaling was used to show the cumulativeness of the scales. Groups of persons with the most and least positive attitudes were identified, 83% of the patients with the most positive attitude having visited a dentist within a year, whereas 65% of those with the least positive attitude had last done so more than 2 yr earlier. The women had a more positive attitude than the men, but education was not a decisive factor in determining attitude. All the persons with the most positive attitude were over 25 yr old. It was concluded that it was possible to formulate a questionnaire on the basis of Krathwohl's taxonomy which would measure attitudes towards dental care and that it is possible to use this questionnaire in practical situations in order to help the dentist to instruct his patients.