Facilitators and barriers to home-based toothbrushing practices by parents of young children to reduce tooth decay: a systematic review

Objectives

Parental supervised toothbrushing (PSB) is a collection of behaviours recommended by national guidance to improve oral health. This systematic review aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to PSB.

Materials and methods

Studies investigating parental involvement in home-based toothbrushing in children under 8 years old and the impact on tooth decay were included. Electronic databases, references and unpublished literature databases were searched. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) was used to code barriers/facilitators to PSB.

Results

Of the 10,176 articles retrieved, 68 articles were included. Barriers and facilitators were found across all 12 TDF domains. Barriers included an inadequate toothbrushing environment and resources, knowledge of what PSB entails and child behaviour management. Facilitators were increased oral health knowledge, the adaption of the social environment to facilitate PSB and positive attitudes towards oral health. When only high-quality articles were synthesized, knowledge was not a common barrier/facilitator.

Conclusions

There are a comprehensive range of barriers/facilitators to PSB acting across all domains and at multiple levels of influence. This review identifies the most popular domains, thus informing the focus for supporting resources to supplement oral health conversations.

Clinical relevance

PSB is a complex behaviour. Practitioners need to understand and be able to explore the wide range of potential barriers and have practical suggestions to enable PSB. This review provides pragmatic examples of different barriers and facilitators and emphasises the importance of listening to parents and exploring their story to identify the barriers and solutions that are relevant to each family.