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.

Fixed orthodontic appliance will cause changes in microbial flora the oral cavity and food debris accumulation, and will be formed especially around the gingival sulcus. Plaque control using chemical means can be done by using mouth rinse. This research compared the influence of 0.05% sodium fluoride mouth rinse with aquadest, and 0.2% chlorhexidine to the plaque index in fixed orthodontic patients. A double blind and cross over clinical assessment were applied using a sample size of 16 male fixed orthodontic patients with the age above 21 years. 0.05% sodium fluoride, 0.2% chlorhexidine mouth rinse was given to all patients as a positive control, and aquadest as a negative control. Plaque index was then measured after 24 hours without tooth brushing, after using the mouth rinse and a week after using the mouth rinse with tooth brushing. The results showed that the use of 0.05% sodium fluoride mouth rinse reduced plaque index more significantly compared to 0.2% chlorhexidine. The mechanical plaque control by tooth brushing is still the most influential mean to reduce plaque index in fixed orthodontic patients. Mouth rinse is just an additional mean to reduce plaque.

Objective: To identify the relationship between periodontitis in pregnant women through the periodontal disease index (PDI) and low birth weight babies. Methods:A case-control study was conducted to determine the relationship between periodontitis in pregnant women through the periodontal disease index (PDI) and the low birth weight babies (LBW). The participants were mothers with periodontitis and non-periodontitis mothers aged 20-35 years who gave birth in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology-Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung in the period of December to January 2005. Results:Based on the chisquare test results a highly significant relationship between periodontitis and low birth weight (p=0.002) was found. The Odd's ratio showed that the risk of low birth weight in pregnant women with periodontitis was 15.58 times higher compared to those who did not suffer from periodontitis. The periodontal disease index has an accuracy of 88.6% in predicting the incidence of LBW. It strongly influenced the incidence of LBW with a high Odd's ratio of 28.0. Pregnant women who suffer from periodontitis with a PDI > 3.25, have 19.2 times higher risk for delivering babies with LBW compared to the non-periodontitis mothers. Conclusions:The loss of attachment affects the possibility of delivering LBW babies.