A peer group approach model of oral health promotion among orphans at Puduchery, South India

Abstract

Background:Interactions between oral and systemic health are bi-directional and complex, involving many pathways. The orphans have been sympathized with, ignored, vitrified or even hidden away in the community. Hence, providing health care services for orphans remains a challenge. Oral health education has a positive impact in lowering plaque and gingivitis scores in health educational programs.Objective:The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of peer group health promotion model among 11 to 16 year old orphans at Puduchery, South India.Materials and Methods:A clinical trial of 6 months duration was carried out among 72 orphans with age ranging from 11 to 16 years residing in Cluny Padmini Sneha Illam, at Puduchery, India. The baseline data regarding oral health and oral hygiene practices were obtained using a pre-tested close-ended questionnaire. Oral health education was provided to 4 randomly picked children who in turn provided the same to their peer group orphans, supervised by the investigator. Tooth brushes and fluoridated tooth pastes were provided to all the participants throughout the study period. Oral hygiene of the participants was assessed using Modified Plaque Index by Loe H and Gingival Index by Loe H and Silness at baseline, 3rd and 6th month interval. Paired Student t test was used to analyze the categorical data.Results:Majority of the respondents felt consuming sugar was not harmful for dental health, while 15 respondents were not sure about the outcome. When asked if oral hygiene was important for general health, 45.8% were not aware of its association. Although all the participants brushed their teeth daily, none of them reported the use of dental floss. The findings of this study indicated a statisticallysignificant lower mean plaque score of 0.54 ± 0.20 at 6th month when compared to the baseline score of 1.76 ± 0.24. Similarly, statistically significant lower gingival index score of 0.65 ± 0.11 at 6th month was observed when compared to the baseline score of 1.76 ± 0.24.Conclusions:The results of this study indicate that oral hygiene of orphans was improved using a peer group approach model of oral health promotion.

Oral Health Status of Female Orphanage Adolescents Compared to Adolescents Living With Their Families, Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

“…Higher percentages of orphans and non orphans were not using dental floss. This comes in accord with the findings of earlier studies (11,12) . In contrast with the finding in San Francisco (13) , where 75% of the students used dental floss at least once a day.…”

Kiddie doctors education strategy in improving the knowledge, attitude, and oral hygiene status of elementary school children

“…The decrease in the mean OHIS score in our study was higher than that in Khorakian et al ’s study and lower than that in Sushanth et al ’s study. [ 8 16 ] In our study, the OHIS scores of students in the control group also decreased. This finding can affect the estimated number of OHIS score reduction attempted by kiddie doctors.…”

“…Thus, children trained as kiddie doctors can provide health education to their peers just as efficiently as health workers or teachers. [ 8 ]…”

“…This learning method has been proven to increase knowledge and improve oral health behavior. [ 5 6 7 8 ] It has also been shown to provide better results than education provided by teachers and to be almost as good as education provided by health workers. [ 9 ] Children felt more comfortable getting lessons from their peers because they focused on social interaction and sharing knowledge, ideas, and experiences.…”

Programa de educação em saúde bucal para crianças com fissura labiopalatina

“…Silva e Jorge 2000 TOASSI;PETRY, 2002;AQUILANTE et al, 2003;YAZDANI et al, 2009;MORAES et al, 2011;SUSHANTH et al, 2011;YEKANINEJAD et al, 2012)…”