Borrowing from Sports Psychology to Teach about Oral Hygiene Instruction

Objectives: Within the BDent curriculum at the University of Sydney, an integral component of the Caries Management System (CMS) is the monitoring of oral hygiene by using the Plaque Index of Silness and Loe on index teeth. At the first visit the student clinician establishes baseline plaque levels and custom-makes an oral hygiene program for the individual patient. At each subsequent visit the PI score provides knowledge of the results of oral hygiene in the context of coaching the patient to become as effective as possible. This approach needed different concepts from those previously taught. Methods: Sports psychology provided the new concepts and types of feedback employed for changing and improving performance. Lectures, video’s and practical exercises were employed to show oral hygiene was a automated complex motor sequence, the difficulties of re-learning automated motor sequences, and the types of feedback used for coaching. Working in pairs, students used open ended questions to explore the regularity and usual environment where oral hygiene occurred; observed and mapped brush placement and the type, amplitude and rhythmicity movements; and disclosed and charted plaque remaining after brushing. Results: Results demonstrated that students’ current brushing methods were consistent with an automatic complex motor sequence that did not necessarily remove accessible plaque, and that plaque monitoring helped measure the outcome of brushing performance. Conclusion: The concepts and methods of sports psychology have been useful in helping to teach 1st year dental students about oral hygiene as an integral part of the Caries Management System within the BDent Curriculum at Sydney Faculty of Dentistry.