This review of psychological interventions to improve oral health identified 9 RCTs reported in 11 papers. A small statistically significant improvement in plaque index was noted but the quality of the available evidence is low. More higher quality studies are needed.
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In her debut blog, Jacqueline Burns considers a school-based cluster RCT, which demonstrated a small short-term improvement on oral self-care, using a social-cognitive theory based intervention.
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This update of a Cochrane review, first published in 2009, did not identify any RCTs comparing the efficiency of sedation versus general anaesthesia (GA) for the provision of a dental treatment.
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This large German cohort study with 23,376 participants found that smoking was associated with tooth loss with heavy males smokers (≥15 cigarettes per day) having a 3 times higher tooth loss.
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Nine studies were identified for this review of the impact of sense of coherence (SOC) on oral health behaviours. The findings suggest that more favourable oral health behaviour are seen in those with a stronger SOC.
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The review of motivational interviewing (MI) to improve parent-child health interventions included 25 studies in all with 4 dental studies. The dental studies demonstrated a positive effect on oral health and were suggestive of a benefit on dental caries.
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This review of oral health promotion in pregnancy included 7 studies with the majority (5) focused on improving knowledge. The description of the interventions was generally vague and just one was based on a recognised health behaviour theory.
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Oral health professionals can play an important role in helping patients adopt good health behaviours. This review summarises 7 systematic reviews, finding that the strongest evidence is for smoking cessation and dietary interventions delivered by dental professionals.
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This cluster randomised controlled trial looked at changes in knowledge and attitudes in care homes following the introduction of an oral health care protocol. Significant improvements in knowledge were seen but no changes in attitudes.
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Helge Hasselmann summarises a recent systematic review of poor oral health and severe mental illness (SMI), which found that people with SMI were 2.8 times more likely to have lost all their teeth, and had more missing, decayed or filled teeth.
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