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Impact of different modes of school dental health education on oral health-related knowledge, attitude and practice behaviour: an interventional study

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European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The study was planned to evaluate the effectiveness of three modes of school dental health education (SDHE) on the oral health-related knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) behaviour of school children.

Methods

An interventional study was carried out among 8–9 year old school children from January 2016 to January 2018. Three hundred and sixty children from three schools in Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, India participated in this study. Each school was randomly allotted with a mode (drama, modified snake and ladder game, flashcard) of SDHE, which was delivered for 20 min, every 6 months for 2 years. A validated questionnaire with 18 questions was used to record oral health-related KAP behaviour at baseline and after 2 years.

Results

At the end of 2 years, there was an increase in the percentage of correct response for all the nine knowledge questions, in all the three modes. The mean difference in the cumulative knowledge score between baseline and 2 years was 1.39 ± 2.05 for drama mode, 1.8 ± 1.51 for game mode and 1.7 ± 1.5 for flashcard mode of SDHE. There was a significant difference in three knowledge questions and one attitude practice behaviour question between the three groups at the end of 2 years.

Conclusions

All the three modes were effective in improving the oral health-related KAP behaviour of school children. Game mode made a better impact on the knowledge scores of these children, and it was observed to be more child-friendly and entertaining.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, KSR Institute of Dental Science and Research, Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, 637215, India

    P. R. GeethaPriya & S. Asokan

  2. Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai, India

    D. Kandaswamy

  3. Department of Public Health Dentistry, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. Shyam

Authors
  1. P. R. GeethaPriya
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  2. S. Asokan
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  3. D. Kandaswamy
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  4. S. Shyam
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. R. GeethaPriya.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC-NI/14/DEC/44/80) of Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, TamilNadu, India.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all the children (and their parents) included in the study.

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GeethaPriya, P.R., Asokan, S., Kandaswamy, D. et al. Impact of different modes of school dental health education on oral health-related knowledge, attitude and practice behaviour: an interventional study. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 21, 347–354 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00489-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00489-7

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