the application of the health belief model in oral health education

background: the goal of this study was to determine the application of health belief model in oral health education for 12-year-old children and its effect on oral health behaviors and indexes. methods: a quasi- experimental study was carried out on twelve-year-old girl students (n-291) in the first grade of secon­dary school, in the central district of tehran, iran. research sample was selected by a multistage cluster sampling. the data was obtained by using a valid reliable questionnaire for measuring the perceptions, a checklist for observing the quality of brush­ing and dental flossing and health files and clinical observation. first, a descriptive study was applied to individual percep­tions, oral behaviors, oral hygiene index (ohi) and decayed, missing and filled teeth index (dmfti). then an educa­tional planning based on the results and health belief model (hbm) was applied. the procedure was repeated after six months. results: after education, based on hbm, all the oral health perceptions increased ( p <.05). correct brushing and flossing are influenced by increased perceptions. a low correlation between the reduction of dmfti and increased perceived sever­ity and increased perceived barriers are found (r= -0.28, r = 0.43 respectively). in addition, there was a limited correlation be­tween ohi and increased perceived benefits (r = -0.26). conclusion: using health belief model in oral health education for increasing the likelihood of taking preventive oral health be­haviors is applicable.