Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug;17(19):1-9.
doi: 10.18502/fid.v17i19.4313. Epub 2020 Aug 30.

Effect of an Oral Health Promotion Program Including Supervised Toothbrushing on 6 to 7-Year-Old School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Azadeh Babaei  1 , Afsaneh Pakdaman  1   2 , Hossein Hessari  2
Affiliations

Effect of an Oral Health Promotion Program Including Supervised Toothbrushing on 6 to 7-Year-Old School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Azadeh Babaei et al. Front Dent. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose was to evaluate the impact of an oral health promotion program including supervised toothbrushing and educational packages for parents on parent's knowledge and oral health status of 6- to 7-year-old schoolchildren.

Materials and methods: A multi-stage cluster random sampling method was applied, and schools were allocated to intervention and control groups. After ethical clearance and baseline evaluation, an intervention package consisting of supervised toothbrushing at the school setting, an educational package for parents, and a home package containing toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste (1000 parts-per-million) were delivered. A post-intervention evaluation was performed after one month on parents' oral health knowledge and oral hygiene of children using the Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHI-S). Schools were considered as a unit of randomization, and a generalized estimating equation (GEE) analysis was performed to apply the cluster effect. Descriptive and analytical analyses were performed using SPSS 22 software.

Results: Overall, 701 subjects were re-examined (response rate of 95%). At the one-month follow-up, being in the intervention group (P<0.001, B=-0.028, 95% confidence interval (CI)= -0.33, -0.23) and having higher socioeconomic status [P=0.01, B=-0.12, 95% CI=-0.22, -0.03) were significantly associated with improved oral hygiene status. In the post-test evaluation, parents' knowledge improvement score regarding oral health in the intervention group was not statistically different from that of the controls (0.51 vs. 0.23). However, the ΔOHI-S improved in the post-test evaluation (-0.27±0.02 vs. 0.02±0.02; P<0.001).

Conclusion: Children showed improved oral hygiene status, as measured by the OHI-S, after the program consisting of supervised toothbrushing.

Keywords: Child; Dental; Health Education; Schools; Toothbrushing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT None declared

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Flowchart of the study participants at the baseline and at the post-test evaluation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Dos Santos APP, de Oliveira BH, Nadanovsky P. A systematic review of the effects of supervised toothbrushing on caries incidence in children and adolescents. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2018. Jan;28(1):3–11. - PubMed
    1. Cooper AM, O’Malley LA, Elison SN, Armstrong R, Burnside G, Adair P, et al. Primary school-based behavioural interventions for preventing caries. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013. May 31;(5):CD009378. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Petersen PE, Hunsrisakhun J, Thearmontree A, Pithpornchaiyakul S, Hintao J, Jürgensen N, et al. School-based intervention for improving the oral health of children in southern Thailand. Community Dent Health. 2015. Mar;32(1):44–50. - PubMed
    1. Jurgensen N, Petersen P. Promoting oral health of children through schools - Results from a WHO global survey 2012. Community Dent Health. 2013;30(4):204–18. - PubMed
    1. Nakre PD, Harikiran AG. Effectiveness of oral health education programs: A systematic review. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2013. Jul;3(2):103–15. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources