Internal structure of prevention and dental health behaviors.

Previous work investigating the internal structure of preventive health behavior (PHB) has not included a representative sample of dental health behaviors. Consequently, it has not been possible to evaluate whether dental dimensions of health behavior exist or whether dental behaviors are part of other health behavior dimensions. The results of a principal-components analysis of PHBs in which a larger sample of dental health behaviors is included shows that purely dental dimensions of health behavior emerge in a sample of 350 university students and faculty. Dental health behavior may need to be conceptualized as a dimension of health behavior separate from other PHBs.