Effect of a Tooth-brushing Education Program on Oral Health of Preschool Children

Abstract

Purpose:To examine the effect of tooth-brushing education on the oral health of preschoolers. Methods: A quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was used. Two kindergartens were selected and 39 preschoolers from one kindergarten were assigned to the experimental group with tooth-brushing education and 39 from the other kindergarten to the control group. The tooth-brushing education program included 1 session on oral health education, individual toothbrushing instruction for 1 week and supervised tooth-brushing after lunch for 4 weeks. Oral health behavior including use of tooth paste, tooth-brushing time and method of tooth-brushing, plague, streptococcus mutans, lactobacillus and dental caries were measured before and after the education. Fisher's exact test, t-test and paired t-test with the Window SAS 9.1 program were used to analyze the data. Results: A significant increase in the use of tooth paste, tooth-brushing time and the practice of correct tooth-brushing and a decrease in plague and development of dental caries were observed in the experimental group. Conclusion: This tooth-brushing education was partially effective in improving oral health of preschoolers.

Effect of Repeated Oral Health Education on the Oral Health of Preschool Children

“…By providing repeated education that focused on tooth brushing, the dental plaque index of the experimental group significantly decreased. Kang et al 14) have also reported a significant decrease in the dental plaque index after oral health education as a result of repeated tooth-brushing education in which the brushing methods used by the children were monitored and corrected. Although the presence of dental plaques is an important factor that influences oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal diseases 21) , the initial dental plaque index of both groups had approximately 80 points, indicating that the dental plaques of children are poorly managed.…”

“…A significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of the scores. Kang et al 14) have reported a significant decrease in the level of S. mutans but not lactobacilli in the experimental group that received tooth-brushing education on salivary testing that was conducted to assess the levels of caries activity. The method used for the risk assessment of dental caries in this study can highly predict dental caries compared to the existing methods that use saliva because it can assess the overall oral health based on the amount of organic acids produced by all microbes within the oral cavity, and the characteristics of the biofilms are maintained since dental plaques are directly collected and cultured 18,19) .…”

“…Previous studies 6,[11][12][13][14] have shown that a group subjected to one or more sessions of oral health education effectively managed their oral health compared to a group that did not receive oral health education at all. Thus, oral health education is an important method in managing the oral health of children.…”

“…However, the period or the number of education sessions was limited in these studies. Others have investigated the effects of repeated tooth-brushing education 6,14) . However, no significant difference was observed in the effects of one-time education and repeated education.…”

“…However, no significant difference was observed in the effects of one-time education and repeated education. Another study has conducted a risk assessment for dental care based on bacterial testing of Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli using saliva 6,14) . Results showed that dental caries are worsened by the actions of multiple microbes within the oral cavity rather than by one specific type of causative bacteria.…”