title: Automated coaching to help parents increase their children's brushing frequency: an exploratory trial.
abstract: Advances in digital communication, such as the internet, now provide a cost effective channel to reach and help families struggling to establish good oral hygiene in their homes. This paper describes a novel internet based oral hygiene intervention whose design draws from advances in social cognitive models of behaviour change. Intervention components included role-modelling cartoons for children, a guide for parents on using rewards, a personalised plan with clear steps, tips to follow and a weekly 10-minute review of progress.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of the online coaching programme; specifically we expected that those in the intervention group would brush their teeth more frequently during the intervention period than those in the control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  An exploratory trial using a randomised controlled parallel approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 5 to 9 years from 44 families (23 control and 21 intervention).
  
  
  METHODS
  An objective monitoring of tooth brushing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 3-week intervention period, children from families assigned to the coaching programme brushed their teeth 38% more often than those in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The programme was effective in a number of respects. Opportunities for further research are discussed, including the need to create a more engaging system and so increase compliance.
authors.affiliation: Unilever Research, Colworth, Bedford, UK. bob.hurling@unilever.com
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hurling
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Claessen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schäfer
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tomlin
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D002359:Cartoons as Topic; D040421:Cell Phone; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012201:Reward; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D013664:Teaching Materials; D060145:Text Messaging; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*