© Child Trends 2003
Comprehensive Oral Hygiene Training Program
OVERVIEW
The Comprehensive Oral Hygiene Training program, through a series of discussions and training, aims to improve the oral hygiene habits of middle school-age children in a private school in Brazil. Control group students were randomly assigned to receive no oral hygiene education, while students in one treatment group received a comprehensive program of oral hygiene training and students in a second treatment received standard education in oral hygiene. An evaluation of the three-year program showed improved sugar intake and flossing habits, especially for the comprehensive treatment group, and increased oral hygiene knowledge..
Target population: Middle school children
The Comprehensive Oral Hygiene Training program educates students on oral health through a series of meetings. First, parents and teachers receive a one-hour presentation about tooth cleaning and the prevention of dental diseases. Groups of 5 to 7 students meet in 25-minute sessions to discuss the development of dental diseases, early self-diagnosis, and self-care. Over three years, the students receive 20-minute oral hygiene training sessions about self diagnosis, restriction of sugar intake, and recording gingival units, lesions, and plaque. The first three sessions occur every two days. A series of 10 minute follow-up sessions occur monthly for four months and, afterwards, every three months during the school year over the course of the remaining 32 months. During follow-up sessions, students' are assessed on their difficulties in plaque control, knowledge of prevention, and capacity to perform self-diagnosis. Information learned during previous sessions was repeated. Student efforts to maintain oral hygiene are always praised, with negative criticism minimized. Each month, students are also provided with disclosing solution, a toothbrush, dental tape, a tongue scraper, and fluoride toothpaste throughout the three years. Each child receives approximately 3.5 hours of training throughout the program.
Evaluated Population: 186 13 year-old students from a private school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Children entered the study with previously established toothbrushing habits.
Approach: The students were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Group 1 received the oral hygiene training program detailed above. Group 2 received 5-minute individual traditional instruction on oral hygiene techniques, following the same schedule as Group 1. Group 2 did not receive any group sessions or stimulation of active participation. Group 3 served as a no-treatment control group; however, they received fluoridated toothpaste each month. A reference group (4) of 70 children from a similar school was evaluated at post-test to control for contamination.
Through a self-administered questionnaire, the students were measured on oral health knowledge and behavior.
Buischi, Y. A. P., Axelsson, P. O., & Gjermo, P. (1994). Effect of two preventive programs on oral health knowledge and habits among Brazilian schoolchildren. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 22, 41-46.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 13
Program age ranges in the guide: Middle Childhood
Program components: School-based
Measured outcomes: Physical health
KEYWORDS: Adolescence (12-17), School-based, Adolescents (12-17), Nutrition,
Program information last updated on 4/1/09.
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© Child Trends 2003 |