Abstract

Purpose: Dental hygienists have the unique opportunity to educate patients on connections between nutrition and oral health. Dental hygiene students are introduced to these concepts but struggle to gain confidence to share this knowledge with patients. This pilot study looked at an educational module on Motivational interviewing (MI) and an assessment and counselling tool to build student confidence with nutritional counselling.

Methods: Dental hygiene students participated in an educational module to review MI and introduce a nutritional risk assessment and counselling tool. Prior to the module, participants completed a pre-test about confidence levels regarding MI and nutritional counselling. After three weeks of clinical practice, participants completed a post-test. Data was compared for quantitative changes and qualitative themes from responses.

Results: Twenty-two senior dental hygiene students (n=22) participated in both the pre-test and post-test. There were statistically significant changes in participants’ confidence (p=0.007) and comfort (p=0.020) discussing nutrition with patients. Participants struggled to become more confident in MI as demonstrated by no significant change in their feelings surrounding MI (p=0.150). Students reporting increased nutritional counselling sessions showed improvement in their confidence.

Conclusion: Introducing MI with an assessment and counselling tool to aid students can improve confidence with nutritional counselling. This type of education may translate into more chair side discussions about nutrition, improving overall patient care.

Keywords: Oral health; Nutrition; Dental hygiene education; Teaching methodology; Motivational interviewing