Managing risk factors for caries with behaviour change approach : a systematic literature review and observational registry study

Abstract: It is estimated that nearly 100% of adults had dental caries worldwide. The disease can be approached with a biopsychosocial perspective. Overall, the aim of this study was to assess how behaviour change approach is used to manage risk factors for caries, which was divided in two sub-objectives;1. To illuminate behaviour change methods used to manage risk factors for caries, 2. To explore caries incidence among adult patients who have received behaviour change therapy treatment against caries.To answer the first sub-objective a systematic literature review was performed. To explore dental health status among adults who received behaviour change therapy due to caries, data from the national register in odontology SKaPa was analysed with descriptive and analytic statistics.The findings of the systematic literature review retrieved one RCT-study in the field of behaviour change therapy and caries. Findings from the register study showed there was no corralation between behaviour change therapy and DFT, no differences in inqualities among gender regardning DFT, no differences in DFT related to behaviour change therapy, that among therapy codes for behaviour change therapy behavioural therapy, 60 minutes or more was less frequently used and that dental professionals most frequently used behaviour change therapy when treating initial caries.The conclusion of this study are that there is a lack of scientific evidence regarding managing risk factors for caries with behaviour change approach. The study indicate that qualitative as well as randomized controlled studies would contribute to more knowledge about managing risk factors for caries with behaviour change approach.