Survey of pediatric dentists' own oral health behavior.

Oral health behavior is voluntary and, therefore, requires motivation. Dentists serve as role models for their patients. We sought to determine the pediatric dentists' own adherence to oral health behavior recommendations through a 14-question survey administered to 129 pediatric dentists. A significant percentage of respondents fell short in brushing, flossing and regularity of dental exams. A trend was seen for decreasing exam frequency with decreasing population density and for increasing brushing frequency with increasing age. Although most dentists follow their profession's oral health guidelines, a significant percentage does not.