Creencias, costumbres y hábitos de higiene oral en la población de Latinoamérica.

Abstract

Citizens' health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors influence the health behaviors of themselves and those in their care. The health belief model describes the process an individual undertakes when making decisions about their health. The objective of the research was to detect the predominant beliefs, customs and oral hygiene habits in the Latin American population. A systematic review of the literature was carried out and articles that contributed to the knowledge of health beliefs and oral health habits of the Latin American population were included. The ethnic and social diversity of Latin America means that there are different beliefs, customs and oral hygiene habits. From the ethnic point of view, the majority of indigenous peoples continue to base their health beliefs on the magical-religious conception. On the other hand, caregivers of older adults report low knowledge and this generates erroneous beliefs in health. In short, health beliefs have a marked influence on oral hygiene habits, which in turn can have consequences for the oral health of the population. These can be positive if the beliefs promote healthy habits or negative if the beliefs deny the importance of performing oral hygiene procedures.