Understanding habitual tooth brushing behaviour

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Understanding habitual tooth brushing behaviour

• IRAS ID

  240042

• Contact name

  Rebecca Harris

• Contact email

  harrisrv@liverpool.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Liverpol

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 11 months, 24 days

• Research summary

  Brushing your teeth twice daily is important to maintaining good oral health. It allows for the removal of dental plaque and the application of fluoride to the teeth. Despite this benefit from a simple behaviour, many individuals continue to brush less than twice daily.

  Habits are defined as behaviours activated by cues to produce automatic behavioural responses, due to pattern establishment from previous consistent and repeated action (Lally and Gardner, 2013). Literature is beginning to suggest that people develop a habitual behaviour towards tooth brushing (Newton and Asimakopoulou, 2017) – such that, regular routine behaviour in the morning and the evening help establish this cue-automaticity for habitual tooth brushing with the constant repetition of the same behaviour in the same sequence. However, this is still a theoretical bases and this research aims to explore tooth brushing behaviour to uncover whether it is habitual or not when established in adults.

  Lally, P & Gardner, B. 2013. Promoting habit formation. Health Psychology Review. 7(1);S137-S158
  Newton, J.T & Asimakopoulou, K. Minimally invasive dentistry: Enhancing oral health related behaviour through behaviour change techniques. British Dental Journal. 223, 147-150

• REC name

  HSC REC A

• REC reference

  18/NI/0015

• Date of REC Opinion

  16 Jan 2018

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion