School Based Dental Education for Oral Self-care in Mexican Children

Objectives: To probe the effectiveness of conventional and peer dental education strategies on children’s oral self-care. To determine if effectiveness is sustainable for a short time after education is discontinued, to determine which one of these approaches is more effective than other.
Methods: School based randomized controlled study. 370 students from 4 schools participated. Informed consents, social-demographic and lifestyle data were obtained from parents at baseline. 1 school did not received intervention, 1 school had a 20 minute of conventional education and 2 schools had 1-month long peer-led education. The percentage of dental cleanness was counted using a digital assessment from 2 sets of 3 photographs of teeth after dental plaque disclosure taken from each kid before (%CBTB) and after (%CATB) toothbrushing at baseline, 3 and 6 month-follow ups. Statistical analysis performed were One-way Anova, repeated measures Anova and t- test.
Results: There were not statistical differences between groups at baseline in the 2 outcomes measures. The %CBTB in the conventional education group improved 7.5% at the 3 months follow-up and 4.2% from baseline to the 6 months follow up. In the peer led education group this measurement improved 13.8% and 5.6% at the 3 and 6 months follow-up respectively. The %CATB in the conventional education group improved 12.6% and 12.7% while in the peer led education group improved 12.8% and 10.4% at the 3 and 6 months follow-ups respectively.
Conclusions: Both interventions were effective improving outcomes at the 3 months follow-up. Three months after all improvements decrease excepting conventional’s group %CATB.