Effectiveness of primary school-based oral health education in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

A study in West Java has indicated that involvement of primary health care personnel and schoolteachers in oral health education (OHE) at primary schools is a feasible approach that is sustainable.

Aim: The present study aims to assess the effects of that school-based OHE programme on pupils who had completed the programme one and a half years ago.

Methods: Eight experimental and six control primary schools in the same area participated in the study. Out of each school 10 children, aged 8-12-years old, were randomly selected.

Results: ANOVA with age and gender as co-variables showed statistically significantly lower (21%) habitual plaque scores among children from experimental schools as compared to those from control schools. Tooth brushing effectiveness had significantly improved among experimental children and they took longer for tooth brushing when supervised. The dmft/dmfs values were comparable but the DMFT/DMFS values of children from experimental schools tended to be lower (not statistically significant) than of those from control schools. Differences in oral health knowledge were apparent but self-reported habits pertaining to oral health were comparable between children from experimental and control schools.

Conclusion: This school-based OHE programme had a moderate positive effect on oral health knowledge and on habitual plaque levels and on the effectiveness of tooth brushing. The effects on caries levels and on self-reported behaviour were inconclusive.