Adolescent's perspectives on the factors that influence caries development: A qualitative study

Oral and dental diseases limit an individual''s activities at the school، work place and home، leading to a loss of millions of work and school hours all over the world. The period of adolescence is critical as regards shaping of healthy behaviors related to oral and dental diseases. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe school pupils'' viewpoints on factors influencing development of dental caries. A qualitative study with a content analysis approach was conducted to collect the perspectives of 18 Iranian students in 8 guidance schools selected by purposive sampling. Structured and semi-structured interviews were held to collect data. An informed consent was obtained and the interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data was analyzed through an inductive approach of content analysis. In order to support the validity and rigor of the data، different criteria such as acceptability، confirmability and transferability were utilized. Data analysis could identify four major factors influencing dental caries development: «family interactions in dental health»، «role of school in caring for teeth»، «role of dentists in caring for teeth» and «effect of education in caring for teeth». The factors influencing caring for teeth and mouth had a greater significance. The students'' experiences، as observed in this study، can help in developing mutual trust between students and dentists، delivering better services in schools by relevant organizations، and designing more effective oral health interventions، with due consideration of vital role of the parents.