LET’S TALK ORAL HEALTH: THE BEHAVIORAL CHANGE APPROACH
Behavioral change as a key pillar for periodontal disease prevention
Explore the behavioural change approach as one of the foundations for peri-implant and periodontal disease prevention, as this largely depends on the good oral hygiene behaviour of your patient.
Why is behavioral change so important?
How to improve dental patient education to change their behaviour and implement good habits? The key to oral disease prevention lies in behaviours such as plaque control and dietary control.
Encourage your patients to make healthy choices every day and help to change certain behaviours for optimal performance, including interdental cleaning. Inspire patients to commence and maintain those habits over a long period of time.
Navigate the behavioral change theories
Explore the optimal strategy that combines all previous research findings in dental behavioral change. Make it applicable in everyday dentistry practice and strengthen your relationship with the patient. Learn how to guide patients with the GPS-P model, which encompasses goal setting, planning, self-monitoring, and perseverance. This model is based on what is currently in psychology considered to be the gold standard model for behavioural change: COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation). It provides tailored strategies to implement those behavioural changes.
Implementing behavior change techniques
Encourage patients to adopt and maintain healthy dental habits by using evidence-based methods such as GPS-P.
Learn how to help patients use these techniques to integrate healthy habits into their daily lives and improve long-term oral health outcomes. Motivate patients to persist with their behavioural change to create and maintain long-term habits.
Enhance dental patient education
In our latest episode, Professor Newton delves into the importance of building a trusting relationship with the patient to achieve optimal results. Gain valuable insights on fostering trust, improving treatment outcomes and creating an overall positive dental experience. Learn practical tips on how to effectively communicate behavioural change techniques to patients.
Watch the episode now
Meet Professor Newton
Professor Tim Newton is a professor of psychology as applied to dentistry at King’s College London, UK, as well as an honorary consultant health psychologist within the NHS. His research focuses on the role of thoughts and behaviour in oral health and disease, and his interests include the management of dental anxiety, the working life of the dental team and patients’ perceptions of treatment.
