Abstract
The evaluation of changes to oral health behaviors of an interactive, age-adapted oral health education lesson in teenagers.
Methods: The study was conducted in Bucharest, during May-November 2015 on the experimental group of subjects included in the oral health education Erasmus + “Com4You” project. The ethical approval from the University and the consent from the schools and parents were obtained. The sample group included 63 subjects, with mean age of 14.3 years (±1.6), 19 (30.2%) boys and 44 (69.8%) girls, enrolled in two schools in Bucharest. Their oral health behavior was assessed at the beginning of the study and after the first oral health lesson. The lesson took place in the schools, offered by dental students and teaching staff from Faculty of Dentistry, in small groups, lasting 45-50 minutes, presenting information about oral hygiene, using experiential education. This lesson was the first from a series of 3, the topics of the next two were: diet, and regular dental visits. Oral health behavior was assessed using a self- administered questionnaire, with 37 open and closed items. The initial group included 76 subjects, 13 dropped out and the final group was formed of 63 subjects. The response rate was 100%. The data was analyzed using SPSS v.19.
Results: Regarding oral hygiene behavior, statistically significant differences were found in terms of frequency of subjects using proper brushing technique: 9 (14.3%) before and 28 (44.4%) after the lesson, z=3.7, p=0.00; frequency of subjects using mouth wash: 33 (52.4%) before and 50 (79.4%) after, z=3.5, p=0.00 and the frequency of mouth rinsing per week: 3.3±3.9 before and 4.5±3.2 after, t test, p=0.03. Two thirds of the subjects brushed at least twice daily before the lesson: 45 (71.4%) and their number increased to 47 (74.6%), statistically insignificant (z=1.3, p=0.18). Regarding diet-related behavior, there were registered no improvements (frequency consumption of fruits: p=0.42, citrus fruits: p=0.19, sweetened drinks: p=1.78, sugar-free drinks: p=0.24) or worsening (consumption frequency of pastries: p=0.00, chocolate: p=0.02, beverages: p=0.03). For dental services – related behavior were found statistically insignificant improvements of frequencies: z = 0.93, p=0.35.
Conclusions: Oral health behavior was improved by the lesson offered but only regarding hygiene, which was the topic of the first lesson. There is a necessity of emphasis on raising awareness about the importance of diet and regular dental check-ups.
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