title: Why Iranian adolescents do not brush their teeth: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore and describe attitudes towards tooth-brushing among Iranian adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A series of focus-group sessions were held with 37 Iranian adolescents in schools. The groups comprised five to eight adolescents. All focus-group discussions were tape-recorded and then transcribed verbatim. All transcripts, codes and categories were read several times to extract a theme. Data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four major categories emerged from the analysis: brushing teeth is a necessary evil, parental influence on not brushing teeth, brushing teeth is insignificant, and brushing teeth is a health hazard. The theme identified in the latent content described that tooth-brushing is not part of the adolescents' activities of daily living.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health educators should stress on the engagement of parents, awareness of the adolescents on brushing techniques and causes of toothache, and address any misconceptions regarding tooth-brushing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Pakpour
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hidarnia
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hajizadeh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fridlund
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000523:psychology*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data