Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Impact of school‑based oral health education program on oral health of 12 and 15 years old school children

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Vinay Kumar Bhardwaj
. Kapil Rajiv Sharma 1
. Rajeshwar Prasad Luthra 2
. Pravesh Jhingta 3
. Deepak Sharma 3
. Ashish Justa

1 Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry

2 Department of Prosthodontics,

3 Department of Periodontology, H. P. Government Dental College and Hospital, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract
Background: Health education for the school age child is a specialized field within the
broad discipline of education. Oral health education program are educational aspects of any
curative, preventive and promotional health activity. Aim: The study has been undertaken
to evaluate the impact of oral health education on the status of plaque, gingival health and
dental caries among 12 and 15 years old children attending government school in Shimla
city. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and seventy six school children participated in
the study. The study was conducted over a period of 4 months from May 2010 to August 2010
in Government Senior Secondary School, Sanjauli. Plaque, gingival and caries status was
assessed by using Silness and Loe plaque index, Loe and Silness gingival index and WHO
modified DMFT index, respectively. Data was analyzed using the software SPSS version 15.
Paired t‑test and Wilcoxon signed rank sum test were used appropriately for statistical
comparisons. P value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Overall mean
plaque score and gingival score decreased significantly after oral health education irrespective
of gender. However, decrease in plaque score among 15 years old female children and gingival
scores among 12 and 15 years old female subjects was not significant. Difference in mean caries
status was statistically insignificant among all the subjects. Conclusion: Short term oral health
education program may be useful in improving oral hygiene and gingival health. Coordinating
efforts should be enhanced between school personnel, parents and health professionals to
ensure long‑term benefits of such program.

Keywords

Dental caries
gingival status
oral health education
plaque
school children
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 3, Issue 7
July 2013
Pages 1-4

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