A longitudinal study of multiple approaches to dental health education

Abstract

An evaluation was made of the separate effects on oral hygiene of token reward treatments, discovery (project) learning, and plaque staining feedback demonstrations with children in the first through fifth grades. Both short- and long-term effects were assessed in an open classroom setting. Twenty classrooms were non-randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Plaque scores were recorded according to the Podshadley Patient Hygiene Performance Index (PHP) at time T0, before initiation of any of the educational interventions; and again at times T1, T2, and T3; 7 days, 74 days and 255 days, respectively, following cessation of the educational interventions. The combination of dental health interventions at this school had short-range effects at every grade level, and those effects persisted for 9 months among the third and fourth graders. It was not possible to identify which of the various treatments produced the observed differences, although the project learning method was generally less effective. A linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the shifts in oral hygiene behavior, a method not previously used in studies of this type.

Comparative clinical study testing the effectiveness of school based oral health education using experiential learning or traditional lecturing in 10 year-old children

“…Both interventions were found effective in improving oral health behavior and attitude. This finding is in accordance with other studies that found that oral health behavior and attitude of primary school children to temporary improve regardless of the educational approach used [ 8 , 11 , 26 , 39 ]. Some other studies, found no improvement when using the traditional methods [ 15 , 40 ] in contrast to the finding of the present study; however, neither the present oral health education program managed to sustain the improved oral health attitude and behavior in the long-term.…”

“…Regarding clinical data, experiential learning group showed improved oral hygiene as previously found when using experiential learning techniques [ 5 , 6 , 8 ]. However, the improvement was temporary which is in accordance with the findings of other studies [ 5 , 6 , 8 - 10 , 15 , 34 , 39 , 42 , 43 ]. In the traditional lecturing group, no statistically significant improvement has been found even for the short term, suggesting that experiential learning is a more effective method for oral hygiene instruction.…”

The effectiveness of the Brush Day and Night programme in improving children’s toothbrushing knowledge and behaviour

“…The results are in agreement with those of other studies that have shown an improvement in oral health knowledge after the introduction of a school programme [21][22][23]26,43,44 . The improvement in knowledge and associated behaviours is common when measured immediately after interventions 24,27,43,45 . The sustainability of knowledge and behaviours, however, is known to be difficult to achieve over the long term 31,32 .…”

“…The improvement in knowledge and associated behaviours is common when measured immediately after interventions 24,27,43,45 . The sustainability of knowledge and behaviours, however, is known to be difficult to achieve over the long term 31,32 .…”

Behaviour Modification in Dentistry: a Review

“…To determine whether token reinforcement plus minimal instruction would be of value over a similar treatment period and follow-up, Kaplis et al (1979), investigated one group of children who brushed their teeth at home and another who did rh is in school These children and a third group who received no reinforcements, used an ultra-violet light to show up plaque on their teeth. A fourth group participated in dental education projects in class while a fifth group had no dental instruction.…”