Educational comics: A beneficial tool for delivering oral health information to children

Abstract

Maintaining crucial behaviours, such as brushing teeth twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste and limiting intake of sugary foods and drinks, is crucial to the prevention of dental caries. This study aims to inform elementary school students about the value of good oral hygiene and the role that diet plays in preventing dental diseases. It also examines the differences in knowledge levels between students who receive information verbally and those who receive it in the form of comic material. The study was carried out in Elementary Schools. 240 students in all responded to the test. Group A consisted of 120 students (60 students from Class IV Group A and 60 from Class V Group A), who completed the quiz after hearing the content aloud. After reading the comic material, 120 students from Group B (Class IV Group B: 60 students and Class V Group B: 60 students) responded to the quiz. All the students were given 5 minutes to complete the quiz. After that, the responses were collected and graded. Ten percent of class IV students and twenty percent of class V students had good knowledge level about the significance of oral health and hygiene after hearing the information verbally, whereas thirty percent of class IV students and fifty percent of class V students had good knowledge level after reading the comic material. Compared to verbal delivery, the students understood the content more effectively when it was presented through comic material.