Randomized controlled trial of a one-minute intervention changing oral self-care behavior

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Dr Trevor Watts.

Abstract

The intervention had an effect 2 months later.

Main

Sniehotta FF, Soares VE et al. J Dent Res 2007; 86: 641–645

Psychological research suggests that forming an action plan may help individuals to carry out their intentions. In this study, students at a Scottish university were given a lecture on oral self-care, including the relevance of flossing and a free sample packet of dental floss. All were subsequently emailed to invite them to complete a questionnaire, and in a randomly generated experimental subgroup, an intervention was added recommending an action plan of writing when and where the participant would floss for the next 2 weeks.

In the experimental group of 114 subjects, 90 completed a questionnaire to 2 weeks later, and 64 to 2 months; respective control figures were 125, 105 and 70. Self-reported mean weekly flossing frequency at 2 weeks and at 2 months was 5.2 and 2.7 in the experimental group, and 4.2 and 1.9 in the control group (P < 0.05 in both cases). The authors comment that the action plan method has similar effects in other areas of preventive medicine.