Effectiveness of oral health educational interventions on oral health of visually impaired school children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the effect of newer and traditional oral health education (OHE) methods in improving oral health knowledge, oral hygiene status and practices, plaque, gingival, and dental caries status of visually impaired children. Methodology: Comprehensive literature search was performed by using PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Google scholar, and Open Gray from 2010 to 2020 for studies in English language. Two reviewers critically assessed the studies for eligibility criteria, and data extraction was performed. Quality assessment of selected studies was executed according to the study designs. A meta-analysis was carried out using Review Manager 5.3 software. Results: Twenty-four articles were included for qualitative synthesis and out that 11 in meta-analysis. Cumulative standardized mean difference for plaque (Silness and Loe, 1964) and gingival index (Loe and Silness, 1963) was −0.45 (−0.88, −0.02, p = 0.04) and −0.54 (−1.10, 0.03, p = 0.06), respectively favoring newer OHE group as compared to traditional OHE group. Comparison of different newer OHE methods had similar effects on the oral health of visually impaired children. Conclusion:The study period of included studies was short-term, so long-term effectiveness could not be assessed, however newer OHE methods were effective in improving plaque and gingival scores over a short period. K E Y W O R D Saudio tactile performance, Braille, oral health education, visually impaired INTRODUCTIONVision is the most important sense for interpreting the world around us, and when sight is impaired especially in childhood it can have detrimental effects on physical, neurological, cognitive, and emotional development © 2021 Special Care Dentistry Association and Wiley Periodicals LLC and remains the remainder of an individual's life time. 1 Childhood blindness (CHB) is a public health concern across the world. Global estimates on CHB show that there are around 1.42 million and 17.52 million children suffering from blindness and moderate to severe visual impairment, respectively. Almost three quarters of these

Oral health status and dental care for individuals with visual impairment. A narrative review

“…48 For this reason, further research is therefore needed. However, like other authors [46][47][48] we believe that people with visual impairments should receive oral hygiene education based on the expertise of the dental professional, considering the needs and preferences of the individual and their caregivers.…”

“…Table 1 shows the protocol for the promotion of oral health care in people with visual impairment. At present, as two recent systematic reviews about oral health education in patients with visual impairment 46,47 indicate, there is no evidence about which method of dental hygiene and which oral health interventions are best for these patients. As well as on the benefits of these oral hygiene techniques on oral health.…”

Unleashing the most effective oral health education intervention technique for improving the oral hygiene status and oral health knowledge in visually impaired young individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Systematic review conducted by Bhor K et al . (2020)[ 32 ] concluded that newer OHE methods (Braille, ATP) showed short-term improvement in oral hygiene behavior. However, evidence of this review is limited because OHE methods were evaluated over a short period of time.…”

Effectiveness of Problem‐Based Learning versus Traditional Teaching Methods in Improving Acquisition of Radiographic Interpretation Skills among Dental Students—A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

“…In order to understand whether or not PBL methods are superior to traditional teaching methods in oral radiology among dental students, well-designed long-term randomized controlled trials are needed. This study was planned with a systematic review and a meta-analysis as these are both highly effective at analysing studies conducted on similar topics [ 31 , 32 ]. Systematic reviews are efficient in quality evaluation of studies, while a meta-analysis is an objective method to carry out statistical analysis of various studies depending on their quality.…”