Health Education and Health Promotion

Aim: Promotion of oral health in schools is one of the recommended polices of WHO. The aim of this study was to determine the role of Oral Hygiene Beliefs according to the Health Belief Model in regular brushing behavior, among the 9-10 years old female students. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on the female students of Rasht-Iran in 2012. Applying the statistical estimation, the sample population was determined 265 who were selected from 22 schools using systematic sampling method. Nearly 12 students were selected from each school using simple randomized method. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire and the results were analyzed using descriptive methods, and analytical methods including Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test and Logistic regression. Finding: Among the samples, 17.4% brushed at least twice a day. The logistic regression analysis indicated that perceived severity (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.27- 0.86, P = 0.014), perceived barriers (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.29- 3.02, P = 0.002) and mothers' educational level (OR = 4.78, 95% CI = 1.24- 18.46, P = 0.023) were the significant predicting factors for tooth brushing twice a day or more. There are significant statistical correlations among the perceived severity of loosing good eating and good speaking, and perceived barriers of tiredness, laziness and impatience with desirable behavior. Overall 66.5% agreed with one of the two physical barriers: painful tooth brushing and gums bleeding. Conclusion: Promoting educational level and educational programs for Iranian women are recommended. Planning useful educational interventions for the students of concrete operational stage is required attention to the application of Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development. Educational interventions should focus on items of beliefs named above. At least 70 percent of Iranian people need to learn the correct ways of brushing teeth.

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