BACKGROUND:

The authors conducted a study to compare the effect of a motivational interviewing counseling treatment with that of traditional health education on parents of young children at high risk of developing dental caries.

OVERVIEW:

The authors enrolled in the study parents of 240 infants aged 6 to 18 months and randomly assigned them to either a motivational interviewing, or MI, group or a traditional health education (control) group. Parents in the control group received a pamphlet and watched a video. Parents in the MI group also received the pamphlet and watched the video; in addition, they received a personalized MI counseling session and six follow-up telephone calls.

RESULTS:

After one year, children in the MI group had .71 new carious lesions (standard deviation, or SD, = 2.8), while those in the control group had 1.91 (SD = 4.8) new carious lesions (t[238] = 2.37, one-tailed, P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS:

MI is a promising approach that should receive further attention.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS:

MI may lead parents and others to better accept dental recommendations about preventing caries in their children.