Cues to Action as Motivators for Children’s Brushing

Abstract

Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease. Home self-care procedures are the most important strategies to prevent tooth decay. Brushing is the most important single intervention for the prevention of tooth decay, yet compliance is not practiced and there is limited understanding of children’s behavioral decisions. Guided by the Health Belief Model, this study consisted of eight focus groups with children in the second through fifth grades at three different socioeconomic-level school districts to determine the cues to action that are motivating or can motivate their brushing behavior. Results indicated children are primarily motivated to brush for aesthetic reasons, mainly due to viewed media pictures of “perfect” teeth. Other less commonly expressed motivations for brushing stemmed from interpersonal connections, such as relatives with dentures. Social media, on the other hand, played a key role in some children’s understanding of more advanced oral health connections such as links between cardiovascular and oral disease, and smoking and oral cancer. These links were viewed as threatening to children to motivate better brushing. Additionally, the study found that home computers can be used as an external motivator to deliver tailored messages to encourage better brushing.