To help address this, researchers at UCL COHP designed a behavioural change programme aimed at better educating elite athletes about oral health and providing some simple interventions to improve their daily oral health routines. However, compared with other health and training pressures, oral health care is not a high priority in elite sport. Athletes and support teams were asked to watch a 10-minute presentation which focussed on building motivation to improve oral health, and three 90-second information films, featuring GB rower Zak Lee-Green, which focussed on increasing oral health knowledge and skills to perform optimum oral health behaviour. On completion, athletes were asked to fill in an oral health knowledge questionnaire, undergo a follow-up gingival (oral disease) assessment, and evaluate the oral health kit. A desire to avoid inflammation in the body resulting from poor oral health was cited by 93 per cent of athletes as the key motivator to make changes to their oral health routine.

Source: Hindustan Times June 23, 2020 09:26 UTC