Procedure
The study received ethical approval from the University Research
Ethics Committee and was carried out in accordance
with universal ethical principles (eg, anonymity, participants’
ability to withdraw from the research at any time, without
giving reasons and without detriment to their care). In the
dental office, administrative staff directed patients willing
to participate in the study to the researcher. The researcher
explained the study’s purpose, voluntary nature, confidentiality,
anonymity, and use of written consent. Regarding scale
construction, oral hygiene beliefs questionnaire items (see
‘Measures’ for details) were translated from English into
Greek, employing standard forward–backward translation
procedures. New items were generated and framed based on
interviews with 15 dental patients. This qualitative work included
semi-structured interviews, developed around a small
number of themes, relevant to patients’ perceptions of oral
diseases and preventive practices such as regular toothbrushing.
Hence, items addressing a range of oral health beliefs