Impact of Sense of Coherence on Oral Health Behaviors: A Systematic Review

Objectives: The aim of this review was to critically analyze the empirical evidence on the association between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and oral health behaviors through a systematic approach. Methods: A systematic search up to April 2015 was carried out using the following electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE; ISI Web of Science; and Ovid PsychInfo. Studies were included if they evaluated the relationship between SOC and oral health behaviors including tooth cleaning, fluoride usage, dietary habits, dental attendance, and smoking. We excluded studies that only assessed the relationship between oral health status and SOC without evaluating oral health behaviors. The New Castle Ottawa (NOS) quality assessment checklist was employed to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies. Results: Thirty-nine potential papers met the preliminary selection criteria and following a full-text review, 9 papers were finally selected for this systematic review. Results provided by the included studies indicated different levels of association between SOC and oral health behaviors. The most frequent behaviors investigated were tooth brushing and dental attendance pattern. The impact of SOC on performing positive oral health behaviors, to some extent, was related to demographic and socio-economic factors. In addition, mothers’ SOC influenced children’s oral health practices. Conclusions: A more favorable oral health behavior was observed among those with a stronger SOC suggesting that the SOC can be a determinant of oral health-related behaviors including tooth brushing frequency, daily smoking, and dental attendance.