Comparative Evalution of Effectiveness of School Dental Health Education Program among School Children of 8-10 Years Old With and Without Parental Guidance

INTRODUCTION: Good oral health in children is important to meet their general health needs. Oral diseases are major health problems, especially in children, owing to their high prevalence and incidence in all the regions of the world. Most of the oral diseases or conditions in children are preventable or treatable. So it is necessary to promote dental health education in schools. Dental health education helps in enriching knowledge and developing life-skills, positive values and attitudes in children. The health and well-being of school staff, families and community members can also be enhanced by programs based in schools. Dental care professionals believe that including parents in health education program result in reductions in caries risk among their children. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of school dental health education program conducted at regular intervals for 8-10 years old school children with and without parental guidance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 120 students of both genders aged 8-10 years were selected. The study was conducted over a period of 36 weeks and sample were randomly selected and allocated into 2 groups without and with parents each group containing 30 boys and 30 girls. In addition Group II included 60 parents. The questionnaire was circulated before the start and end of the study to assess the knowledge and oral hygiene practice of the children. Tooth brush, tooth paste were distributed to the children during the entire period of the study. Oral health examination was done using DMFT, deft and OHI-S Indices. Initial baseline data was collected. Dental health education was given using video, tooth models and pamphlets after the oral health examination. The children who required treatment were brought to the dental hospital and all their dental needs were treated. Dental examination was carried out again using OHI-S, DMFT and deft index and health education was given at 3rd, 6th and 9th month interval. The result were analyzed using SPSS Software version 20.0 RESULTS: Around 120 Students were screened. The mean score for pre assessment knowledge and oral hygiene practice score of Group I and Group II were 6.50±1.050, 6.55±1.268 respectively. The mean score for post assessment knowledge and oral hygiene practice score of Group I and Group II were 7.88±0.761, 8.03±0.843 respectively. At the baseline the mean score for DMFT, deft, OHI-S score of Group I and Group II were 0.27±0.686 and 0.25±0.680, 1.80±2.114 and 1.23±1.430, 1.265±0.642 and 1.405±0.635 respectively. At the end of 9th month mean score for DMFT, deft and OHI-S index for Group I and Group II were 0.57±0.81 and 0.30±0.696, 2.53±2.054 and 1.52±1.513, 1.082±0.338 and 0.537±0.370 respectively. This difference was found to be statistically significant for DMFT, deft and OHI-S index (P < 0.001). The group without parental presence was showing higher significance due to increase in caries in children