THE USE OF AN ELETRONIC GAME FOR TEACHING ABOUT ORAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS IN THE RURAL AREA

Objectives: Use playing as an extra learning strategy can bring benefits to children and also to their parents and health professionals, who may resort to this additional resource for achieving their goals. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of school children that live in a rural area on the use of an educational software related to the theme of oral hygiene.
Methods: This study has a quantitative approach. The “Dentino” software tells us the adventure of the main character, a molar teeth, that has to defeat bacterias and sugar using a toothbrush, a toothpaste, dental floss and healthier food and its setting is the mouth cavity. The game has several levels, in which hygiene and healthier feeding are the “tools” used to conquer these levels and at the end of the game oral health is achieved. The "Dentino” software was applied to thirty students in the ages of 6 to 14 years old at a school in the rural area of ​​the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Shortly after playing with “Dentino” software, all students answered a survey with eight specific objective questions about the software.
Results: All students (100%) liked the game, and 96.6% reported that they learned about oral health. After play, all students (100%) said they feel motivated to take care of their teeth. All data were analysed quantitatively.
Conclusions: The application of the "Dentino” software received a quite satisfactory feedback, it provided moments of leisure and integration among students, and worked as a teaching tool and motivation for oral health care.