This is a caries prevention research paper that was written in my first semester of dental hygiene school. I often come back to this paper to reevaluate how I am distributing my patient education. This paper explains the significance caries have on people, its possible systemic ties, motivational concerns for dental treatment, and communication approaches to best help the patient get to a place where they can help themselves. Knowing the relationship between a person’s causality orientation and utilizing the appropriate techniques in motivational interviewing help with the issues caries poses by promoting intrinsic change in the patient.
