School-based educational intervention to improve children’s oral health-related knowledge

Blake, Holly; Dawett, Bhupinder; Leighton, Paul; Rose-Brady, Laura; Deery, Chris

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate a brief oral health promotion intervention delivered in schools by a primary care dental practice, aimed at changing oral health care knowledge and oral health–related behaviors in children. Design. Cohort study with pretest–posttest design. Setting. Three primary schools. Participants. One hundred and fifty children (aged 9-12 years). Intervention. Children received a 60-minute theory-driven classroom-based interactive educational session delivered by a dental care professional and received take-home literature on oral health. Main Outcome Measures. All children completed a questionnaire on oral health–related knowledge and self-reported oral health–related behaviors before, immediately after, and 6 weeks following the intervention. Results. Children’s dental knowledge significantly improved following the intervention, with improvement evident at immediate follow-up and maintained 6 weeks later. Significantly more children reported using dental floss 6 weeks after the intervention compared with baseline. No significant differences were detected in toothbrushing or dietary behaviors. Conclusions. School-based preventative oral health education delivered by primary care dental practices can generate short-term improvements in children’s knowledge of oral health and some aspects of oral hygiene behavior. Future research should engage parents/carers and include objective clinical and behavioral outcomes in controlled study designs.

Citation

Blake, H., Dawett, B., Leighton, P., Rose-Brady, L., & Deery, C. (2015). School-based educational intervention to improve children’s oral health-related knowledge. Health Promotion Practice, 16(4), 571-582. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839914560568

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 9, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2014
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2018
• Journal: Health Promotion Practice
• Print ISSN: 1524-8399
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-6372
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 571-582
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839914560568
• Keywords: Oral health education; Children; Schools; Primary care dentist
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1105610
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1524839914560568
• Related Public URLs: http://hpp.sagepub.com/content/16/4/571.abstract
• Contract Date: Oct 9, 2018