RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

Dimensionality Of Dental Health Behaviours

Anne Nordrehaug Astrem

Department of Community Dentistry, University of Bergen, Aarstadveien 17, 5009 BERGEN, NORWAY

From an explanatory and educational point of view it seems important to explore the pattern of interrelationship among dental health behaviours. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether a sample of nine different dental health related behaviours, i.e. use of dental floss, use of tooth picks, tooth brushing frequency, use of fluoride (F)-rinses, use of F-tablets, consumption of non-sugared mineral water, sugared mineral water, chocolate/sweets and cakes, buns and biscuits could be described in terms of a small number of distinct and separate behaviour domains. The data stem from a survey of a representative sample of 970 15 year old adolescents in the county of Hordaland, Norway in September and October 1992. A principal component analysis with orthogonal rotation (PCA) provided support for the contention that the nine dental health behaviours constituted two separate dimensions which may be denoted "dental health enhancing" and "dental health detrimental" behaviours. External variables, time spent outside the home with friends; school achievement; sport performance; illicit drug use; smoking; use of alcohol; performance of antisocial behaviour, eating healthy food, and social self esteem correlated differently with the two factors from the PCA analysis. This provides strong support of the dual dimensionality and gives tentative answers as to which underlying functions these behaviour patterns reflect. In conclusion: the present results indicate that "dental health enhancing" and "dental health detrimental" variables may be regarded as two separate behaviour dimensions rather than polar opposites of the same behaviour domain. From a public health perspective, interventions that consider an adolescent's lifestyle may be an effective method for influencing "dental-health-enhancing" and "dental-health-detrimental" behaviours. By addressing several dental-health behaviors at the same time, these approaches may be making efficient use of public health resources.

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