ArticleBMC oral health2011
Thinking about going to the dentist: a Contemplation Ladder to assess dentally-avoidant individuals' readiness to go to a dentist.
Article in BMC oral health, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05208593 (Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies and Thinking About the Past), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies and Thinking About the Past
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of motivational interviewing on preventive strategies for children receiving full-mouth dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia: A randomized controlled trial.International journal of paediatric dentistry · 2025Trial
- A brief, theory-driven patient education video reduces high-risk over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Disclosure of Personalized Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Using Genetics, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle Factors to Motivate Health Behavior Improvements: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Arthritis care & research · 2018Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention Using an Online Risk Calculator for Knee Osteoarthritis: Effect on Risk Perception.Arthritis care & research · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Dental attendance among low-income women and their children following a brief motivational counseling intervention: A community randomized trial.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2015Trial
- Personalized Risk Estimator for Rheumatoid Arthritis (PRE-RA) Family Study: rationale and design for a randomized controlled trial evaluating rheumatoid arthritis risk education to first-degree relatives.Contemporary clinical trials · 2014Trial
- Design of a community-based intergenerational oral health study: "Baby Smiles".BMC oral health · 2013Trial
- Do children's previous dental experience and fear affect their perceived oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL)?BMC oral health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Transtheoretical Model suggests that individuals vary according to their readiness to change behavior. Previous work in smoking cessation and other health areas suggests that interventions are more successful when they are tailored to an individual's stage of change with regards to the specific behavior. We report on the performance of a single-item measure ("Ladder") to assess the readiness to change dental-avoidant behavior.
methodsAn existing Contemplation Ladder for assessing stage of change in smoking cessation was modified to assess readiness to go to a dentist. The resulting Ladder was administered to samples of English-speaking adolescents (USA), Spanish-speaking adults (USA), and Norwegian military recruits (Norway) in order to assess construct validity. The Ladder was also administered to a sample of English-speaking avoidant adolescents and young adults who were enrolled in an intervention study (USA) in order to assess criterion validity. All participants also had dental examinations, and completed other questionnaires. Correlations, chi square, t tests and one-way ANOVAs were used to assess relationships between variables.
resultsIn two samples, participants who do not go to the dentist had significantly more teeth with caries; in a third sample, participants who do not go to the dentist had significantly worse caries. Ladder scores were not significantly related to age, gender, caries, or dental fear. However, Ladder scores were significantly related to statements of intention to visit a dentist in the future and the importance of oral health. In a preliminary finding, Ladder scores at baseline also predicted whether or not the participants decided to go to a dentist in the intervention sample.
conclusionsThe data provide support for the convergent and divergent construct validity of the Ladder, and preliminary support for its criterion validity. The lack of relationship between dental fear and Ladder scores suggests that avoidant individuals may be helped to decide to go to a dentist using interventions which do not explicitly target their fear.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.