Impact of Oral Health Education on Study Participants and Families

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of an oral health education program on study participants and their family members during a dentifrice study.  Methods: The program was part of a longitudinal study combining oral health data collection and oral health promotion in an elementary school system in Guatemala. A modified Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey instrument, consisting of fifteen questions, was used. The questionnaire included demographic information on children who had been study participants and adults in their families along with their oral hygiene knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Trained school staff interviewed 1306 children; 60% females and 40% males in grades 4 through 7. Descriptive statistics were used to report findings.  Results: Fifty percent of the children with a 95% confidence interval of (47%, 53%) reported that they had brushed their teeth prior to the study, but an additional 48% had been brushing since the study began and 98% said that they paid more attention to their oral health since their participation. The children reported that 59% of adults living in the same household had brushed their teeth prior to the study and an additional 37% had been brushing since the study began. The majority of children (74%) and adults (86%) brushed 3 or more times a day, 98% used toothpaste. Ninety-eight percent of children indicated they would pay more attention to oral health, and 98% thought their parents or other relatives would pay more attention to oral health as well.  Conclusions:  The results support that study subjects and their family members increased their oral hygiene knowledge and practices as a result of oral health education program during a toothpaste study.