title: Dental health education: what lessons have we ignored?
abstract: Dental health education is an important part of our professional activities given we provide day-to-day treatment of caries and periodontal disease which can mostly be controlled by our patients, provided they implement relatively simple changes in their daily oral health habits. However, efforts in the field of both patient and public education are not supported by research. This is partly due to a failure to include an evaluation of these activities; enthusiasm often takes precedence over scientific assessment.
authors.affiliation: Turner Dental School, University Dental Hospital of Manchester.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Blinkhorn
mesh_terms: D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003149:Community Dentistry; D003729:Dental Care; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D018865:Dental Research; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005457:Fluoridation; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005544:Forecasting; D015438:Health Behavior; D006267:Health Education, Dental / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D006285:Health Planning; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D012107:Research Design; D014100:Toothpastes / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D014100:Toothpastes; D005459:Fluorides