Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The high incidence of dental diseases among Indian children can be attributed to low
awareness regarding the oral health maintenance. The school health curriculum in India is deficient
of an oral health component, and there are no organized oral health programs for schoolchildren
existing at present. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an oral
health curriculum in improving the oral health behavior and dental caries experience in schoolchildren.
METHODS: A nonrandomized trial with pretest/posttest design was conducted among 600
schoolchildren. Two intervention arms were designed with one group receiving health education from a
dental health professional and other from a school teacher. The oral health curriculum was customized
for three sections of different age groups (lower primary [LP], upper primary [UP], high school [HS])
and implemented for a period of 1 year. Oral health behaviors were recorded using a Knowledge,
Attitude and Practice (KAP) questionnaire and were evaluated at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year of
the educational intervention. Dental caries experience was measured Pre and Post - intervention
using deft and decayed, missing, and filled teeth indices. Descriptive statistics were calculated for
continuous data, and the change in KAP scores and dental caries experience was analyzed using
the repeated measures of ANOVA, independent t‑tests, and paired t‑tests.
RESULTS: There were significant improvements in KAP regarding oral health among Indian
schoolchildren. Significant reductions in decayed primary teeth were observed in LP and UP
schoolchildren post-intervention. However, there was no significant difference in primary outcome
between the two intervention arms.
CONCLUSIONS: A curriculum‑based health education intervention customized for different age
groups was found to be effective in improving oral health behavior and dental caries experience
among Indian schoolchildren.
Keywords
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