Modified Bass Techniques

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I. Discussion

(a) Problem Statement: This study was performed to test three different approaches of teaching the modified Bass brushing method and to evaluate the adherence of information post teaching sessions. (b) Introduction: The authors did background research on oral hygiene instruction and found that as children, most individuals are taught the Fones brushing technique. As they become adults, instructions for more advanced brushing methods are rarely taught. Therefore, individuals continue to use the Fones method in adulthood even though the modified Bass technique has been found to be more effective. The authors wanted to test three different teaching methods, whereby, in all three methods, the students are being taught the modified
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Once participants were selected, they were randomly assigned to an approach group. Approaches I and II had three classes of students who were all female. In approach III, one of the three classes was a male majority class. In all three approaches, the students were taught the method, then given a written evaluation, and filmed for two minutes performing the modified Bass technique. At the end of all three approaches, students were given a questionnaire to assess adherence of the modified Bass technique. Adherence was judged by the percentage of students who had successfully adopted the technique into their everyday lives. The questionnaire consisted of open and close-ended questions and the answers were checked against each other to ensure validity and reliability. The three teaching approaches used were as follows: (I) the dentist centered approach. In this approach, the dentist taught dental assistant students the modified Bass technique. Textbooks, videos, and visual aids were used. (II) The peer-teaching approach. During this approach, the dental assistant students who had been previously taught by the dentist were now the instructors. Instruction manuals and a one-on-one teaching method were utilized by the assistants to teach students with no dental background whom