Impact of oral health education on dental plaque among 11-12 year old public school children in Eldoret municipality – Uasin-Gishu county – Kenya

Abstract

Background: Dental plaque is an etiologic factor for development of dental caries and periodontal disease, which are of public health concern. OHE towards good oral hygiene practices to curb the onset and rapid progress of these diseases forms a strategy to reduce thefuture disease burden. WHO encourages health education in schools by development of Health Promoting Schools. Purpose of study: To establish whether oral health education improved oral health knowledge and oral hygiene. Objectives: To assess the oral health knowledge; to describe oral health practices; to measure the dental plaque levels; and to assess the impact of oral health education on oral health knowledge and dental plaque scores among 11-12 year old children. Study Area: Public primary schools in Eldoret Municipality, Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya. Method: A cluster randomized controlled intervention study among 11-12 public primary school children. Schools were randomized to intervention and control. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to assess baseline oral health knowledge and practices. Dental plaque was scored by Green and Vermillion index. Four sessions of OHE were given to the intervention group. After the period of study, data to assess the three parameters above was collected and analyzed by STATA. ANOVA and Chi-square statistics were computed to check for statistically significant difference in the above parameters between baseline and after intervention data. Results: At baseline, oral health knowledge was generally low (intervention - 41.84%, control - 41.70%). Pupils’ gender did not significantly influence a pupil’s odds of eating sweet snacks (χ2 = 0.947, df =3, p = .814). Following oral health education, dental plaque score improved from 2.46+1.45 to 0.88+0.98 in intervention, and 2.43+1.52 to 1.99+1.44 in control (p=.001; t=3.43) The change being more pronounced in male (69%) than female (66.7%). Conclusion: Oral health education has a positive impact in dental plaque control in this population. Recommendations: Introduction of a structured school-based OHE program in the country. Long- term studies to assess impact of OHE to the incidence of dental caries and periodontal disease.