Effect of dental health care instruction and prophylaxis on knowledge, attitude and behavior in Dutch military personnel.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a single dental health care instruction and prophylaxis on knowledge, attitude and behavior. Ninety-six army recruits from two military camps were randomly allocated to four groups: a control group, a group that received an oral prophylaxis, a group that received a single dental health care instruction, and a group that had both prophylaxis and dental health care instruction. Treatment effects were measured by a questionnaire 1 month and 3 months after the instruction. A single dental health care instruction improved knowledge, and some areas of behavior. The improvement in attitude was not clear. The improvements were small and showed a tendency to diminish after 1 month.