the benefits, barriers, self-efficacy and perceived severity of the brushing and flossing among patients admitted to medical units of school of dentistry, isfahan university of medical sciences, 2012

background: oral and dental caries are the most prevalent diseases in the world. the aim of this study was to determine the predictors of oral health care in adults based on health belief model in isfahan, iran.   methods: in this cross-sectional (descriptive and analytical) study on 274 patients from the school of dentistry, isfahan university of medical sciences were selected by a simple random sampling. means of data collection was a questionnaire designed according to oral health beliefs model. the obtained data was analyzed by means of spss 20 . p<0.05 was taken as the significant level. findings: the mean age of subjects was 30.47 ± 11.47 years. significant relationship between demographic characteristics, except income did not exist with oral health behavior (flossing and brushing). perceived barriers were the most construct of the hbm for predicting of flossing and brushing(r=-0.53,p<0.001) .this construct plus to perceived benefits were the greatest predictor of oral health,  as it anticipated 38 % of dental floss behavior and 33 % of brushing . conclusion: designing and implementing educational interventions focused on reducing barriers and increasing benefits of oral health behaviors can encourage individuals to prevent dental disease. key words: oral health, tooth brushing, health belief model, adult