Effect of specially designed oral health preventive programme on oral health of visually impaired children: use of audio and tactile aids

Abstract

Introduction Contemporary methods of teaching oral hygiene for the removal of dental plaque are not beneficial for visually impaired children, who depend on tactile sensations and hearing for learning. The present study was conducted to educate and motivate visually impaired children to maintain their oral health using specially designed methods that are easy for these children to understand. Additionally, the study evaluated the effectiveness of these methods over a 6‐month period. Methodology The investigation was done on 148 visually impaired children who were residents of two institutes for the visually impaired. The efficacy of a specially designed oral health education programme and two different motivational techniques utilising tactile (Group I: braille + plastic models) or auditory sensations (Group II: audio story + JAWS®, i.e. Job Access With Speech) was evaluated over 6 months based on the children's plaque and gingival scores. Results Significant improvement in mean plaque and gingival scores was evident in both the groups at the 6‐month evaluation, validating the effectiveness of both the programmes. In Group I, the mean plaque score decreased from 1.34 ± 0.29 at baseline to 1.09 ± 0.26 at 3 months, with a further decrease to 1.04 ± 0.31 at 6 months post‐implementation (P < 0.01). The mean plaque score in Group II decreased from 1.24 ± 0.47 at baseline to 1.15 ± 0.15 at 3 months (P = 0.12), and further to 1.10 ± 0.17 at 6 months (P < 0.01) post‐implementation of the educational programme. At baseline, 87.8% of the children in Group I had moderate gingivitis, whereas 52.7% of the children in Group II belonged to the mild category. At the end of 6 months, 52.7% of the children in Group I were in the mild category, and 62.2% children in Group II were in the moderate category. Conclusion Tactile and auditory measures were found to be effective in educating and motivating visually impaired children regarding maintenance of oral hygiene.

Effectiveness of oral health educational interventions on oral health of visually impaired school children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…There are 24 studies 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] included in this review and the general characteristics of which are presented in Table 2. Majority of the studies included, that, 19 studies 9,11,[14][15][16][21][22][23][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]35,38 are conducted in different parts of India and one each in Bulgaria, 24 Thailand, 37 Indonesia, 12 Pakistan, 34 and Malaysia. 36 The study design of eleven studies 9,…”

“…Majority of the studies included, that, 19 studies 9,11,[14][15][16][21][22][23][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]35,38 are conducted in different parts of India and one each in Bulgaria, 24 Thailand, 37 Indonesia, 12 Pakistan, 34 and Malaysia. 36 The study design of eleven studies 9,12,15,21,26,28,29,33,34,37,39 was randomized control trial, two studies 11,30 were cluster randomized trials, and the remaining 11 were non-randomized studies (NRS). 14,16,[22][23][24][25]27,31,32,35,36 Out of the 11 NRS, there were seven studies 14,…”

“…14,16,[22][23][24][25]27,31,32,35,36 Out of the 11 NRS, there were seven studies 14,22,[23][24][25]32,33 which were single group pre-and post-intervention studies. All the studies selected 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] included schools with no history of oral health care programs. The age of the participants ranged from 6 to 15 years old with complete visual impairment throughout the interventions' conducting period.…”

“…Also, informed consent and assent was taken from the parents/guardians and the participating students respectively. 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] A total of 1890 participants were part of the studies' analysis, with 1610 in New OHE methods group (282 in Braille group, 11,12,15,21,26,27,33,38 518 in ATP group, 9,14,16,21,23,26,33,34,38 374 in Audio and Braille group, 9,11,25,28,29,32,[35][36][37] 154 in Braille and ATP group,…”

Evaluation of Hygiene Practices and oral Health Condition of Patients with Visual Impairment

“…Some studies have developed effective oral health education programs for people with visual impairment 6,7 . These programs consist of teaching oral health techniques in three ways, using Braille booklets, verbal forms with audio stories, and tactile demonstrations on plastic models 8 . Despite this, most public dental surgeons are often unable to develop these programs, causing a lag in the process of oral health education for people with visual impairment 9 For example, they have difficulties flossing, which may lead to the accumulation of dental plaque and result in a gingival inflammatory process, which, in turn, may lead to dental calculus and evolve into a periodontal issue and potential tooth loss 10 .…”