The Effects of Trans-Theoretical Model and Fear of Dental Care on Dental Cleaning Behavior among Students

Background: fear of dental care prevents dental cleaning behavior and increases the prevalence of dental caries. this study was conducted to determine the effect of trans-theoretical model constructs and fear of dental care on the dental cleaning behavior of students. materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was carried out in sanandaj city, iran, in 2017. using multi-stage sampling, 1,344 male and female students were included in the study. they completed a self-report questionnaire, including demographic information, trans-theoretical model constructs and fear of dental care. data were analyzed using spss software (version 22.0). results: a total of 1,344 male and female students with a mean age of 15.22±2.64 years participated in the study; from the perspective of students, dental caries (88.4%) was the most frequent illness and tongue inflammation (0.6%) was the least frequent disease. overall, 32.9% of the students used no tools for cleaning their teeth. fear of dental care and perceived barriers were reduced significantly during the stages of dental cleaning behavior (p<0.05) and perceived self-efficacy and perceived benefits were significantly increased (p<0.001). the odds of dental cleaning behavior increased with self-efficacy (or=1.34, 95%ci=1.22-1.48, p<0.05), and decreased with fear of dental care (or=0.90, 95%ci=0.80-0.98, p<0.01). conclusion: the findings showed dental cleaning behavior among students was at a low level and various factors such as perceived self-efficacy, benefits and barriers and fear of dental care influenced its performance.