Suvan JE et al.
The goal of implementing healthy habits takes place on different levels. Public health interventions mainly awareness on a population level, while the visit at the dental clinic, aside from the educational part, aids lifestyle behaviour changes on an individual level.
This narrative meta-review focuses on behavioural change strategies in relation to both the prevention and the therapy of periodontal diseases. The paper looks at how factors such as an insufficient plaque control regime, tabacco use, a sedentary lifestyle, alcohol abuse, stress, and unhealthy dietary can be impacted. Lifestyle factors are challenging to alter overall, and success is mutually dependent upon the patient and the dental professional.
Patients have a key role in maintaining their periodontal health but also in the treatment of periodontal diseases, essentially through self-performed plaque control. But it can also be about altering other lifestyle factors that have a negative impact on periodontal health.
The dental team's role is to facilitate and coach patients towards healthy lifestyle behaviours. There are different models for behaviour change to enable this work, often including core elements such as a focus on patient engagement and autonomy, the clinician-patient relationship, and communication tools or techniques.
The authors conclude by stressing the importance of behaviour change interventions in periodontal care and the need to make education available by including it in the undergraduate curriculum.
Full article can be read here.
