Background Many countries offer systematic group prevention programs in kindergarten and school in order to promote children’s oral health. Little is known, however, about the actual toothbrushing abilities of children when group prevention programs end. Methods In Germany, all children take advantage from a nationwide group prevention program (called “Gruppenprophylaxe”) lasting from kindergarten up to sixth grade (12 years of age). Standardized recommendations are given concerning brushing systematics and brushing movements. N = 174 children at the age of 12 were thus randomly selected from two German towns and were asked to perform toothbrushing to the best of their abilities in front of a mirror which also served as a camera. Brushing behavior was analyzed by video analysis. Results Children brushed their teeth for an average of 200 s ± 80.48 s (mean ± SD). Still, more than 55% missed at least one sextant when brushing inner surfaces, 16% missed them all. Only 7.5% of the children brushed both inner and outer surfaces by the intended movements (vertical movements on the inner surfaces and circular movements on the outer surfaces) for at least 90% of the respective brushing time. Instead, horizontal brushing was very common on the lateral surfaces. Conclusions The present analysis indicates that children have low efficiency to adopt the tooth-brushing recommendations given in prevention programs. This is surprising as great endeavors are made to help children internalize the recommendations. Future research is needed to better understand which factors impede adoption of toothbrushing recommendations in children and which efforts are necessary to improve their toothbrushing abilities. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12903-019-0755-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundWeaknesses in toothbrushing performance can be seen when young adults are instructed to perform habitual toothbrushing. Nothing is known about toothbrushing behavior when instructed to perform to the best abilities. The present study analyzes such behavior and compares it to habitual behavior.MethodsA random sample of N = 98 young adults born in 1995 was examined in 2014/2015.They were asked to perform oral hygiene to the best of their abilities in front of a camera. Videos were analyzed regarding details of brushing behavior. A quality index was developed which describes the extent of the neglect of brushing on palatinal and vestibular surfaces. Data were compared to those of an earlier study of young adults (born in 1992, examined in 2011, N = 101) who were asked to perform oral hygiene as they habitually do.ResultsThe 1995 cohort (best abilities) brushed their teeth significantly longer than the 1992 cohort (habitual brushing). This was due to significant longer brushing at vestibular and occlusal surfaces. Neglect of palatinal surfaces was similar in both cohorts. Groups did not differ regarding brushing movements. 40% of the brushing time on lateral surfaces was spent with scrubbing movements despite opposing advice in common oral hygiene instructions.ConclusionsToothbrushing to the best of one’s abilities might still not be good enough. Young adults apparently lack a reasonable concept of what is meant by high quality toothbrushing. More efforts should thus be undertaken to explain them (and adults) this concept.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12903-018-0633-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The data indicate that conditions observed after 4 wk of experimental gingivitis are not comparable with persistent gingival inflammation in a naturalistic setting. Results are discussed with respect to current studies, indicating that chronic inflammation may reflect a stage of down-regulated pro-inflammatory response.

Atopic dermatitis leads to, and can be triggered by, stress. Psychological interventions have been shown to have positive effects on skin status, itch and scratching behaviour. However, it has not been analysed whether stress management leads to a change in physiological stress level and psychophysiological stress reaction under acute stress in this patient group. In this study 28 patients with atopic dermatitis were randomized to an experimental group (cognitive behavioural stress management) or a control group. The endocrine stress level and skin status were measured before and after the stress management programme. A public-speaking paradigm was used to induce acute stress. The study revealed that the experimental group had a tentatively reduced cortisol awakening response after the stress management programme. In addition, the experimental group remained calmer and showed lower salivary cortisol levels under acute stress. Thus, stress management might be a useful addition to standard treatment in patients with atopic dermatitis.

No abstract