Patient-centred dental practice: A behavioural approach

‘Behaviour change is something that only the patient can engage in, yet with every utterance, the practitioner has the power to make things better or worse, and influence outcomes’ Mason and Butler (2010).

It is clear that dental caries, periodontal disease and dental erosion can be prevented for most individuals through appropriate behaviours (Levine and Stillman-Lowe, 2009). The challenge for dental care professionals is therefore to promote behaviours that generate disease-inactive oral environments in individuals.

In order to share a common professional message within dentistry Levine and Stillman-Lowe (2009) suggest four points should be made for oral health promoting: reduce the consumption and especially the frequency of intake of foods and drinks with added sugars, clean the teeth thoroughly twice every day with a fluoride toothpaste, fluoridation of the water supply, have an oral examination at least every year. This edition does include the adoption of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2006) guidelines regarding routine dental examinations.