Resumen

MOREIRA ARCIERI, Renato et al. The influence of the motivation and of the supervised brushing in habits of oral hygiene in brazilian preschoolers. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2007, vol.45, n.4, pp.534-539. ISSN 0001-6365.

The motivation and supervised tooth brushing are ways to insert or to change habits of oral hygiene in preschoolers, because the same ones are in learning phase, discovering themselves and their sensations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the motivation and of the supervised toothbrushing in the oral hygiene habits of preschoolers of the Center of Child Acquaintance, in the city of Araçatuba, Brazil. It was distributed a questionnaire semi-structured to the preschoolers’ parents that study in the entity. It was calculated the data frequencies and percentages of open-ended questions and the answers of  discursive questions were analyzed through the Content Analysis, thematic category technique.  Among the interviewees, 84% noticed change in their child’s toothbrushing, mainly in the use of dental floss, besides an improvement of the motive coordination during the act of toothbrushing (84%). In relation to the importance of  toothbrushing in the caries prevention, 44% of the parents received this teaching, 44% mentioned that their children remembered toothbrushing the teeth before sleeping. It can be concluded that there was the influence through the motivation and the supervised toothbrushing in the oral hygiene habits of the preschoolers, due to the improvement in the act of toothbrushing and its frequency; to the concern with the oral hygiene, being important in the caries prevention and of other oral diseases.

Palabras clave : Health Education; Oral Health; Motivation; Toothbrushing; Preventive Dentistry.