A Comparative Study Of Two Oral Health Education Methods On Brushing Behavior And Plaque Clearance In Preschool Children

Objective: To study the effect of brushing behavior and plaque clearance under the intervention of two oral health education methods.Methods: A total of 118 children aged5-6 years old in a kindergarten class in Urumqi were selected and divided into three groups according to class to carry out oral health education.In the theoretical enhancement group,the oral health care and brushing behavior(including brushing action and involving the tooth surface)of the subjects were educated by the oral doctors to improve their awareness of oral protection.In the intensive operation group,the subjects were given simple oral health theoretical knowledge education and brushing behavior guidance by oral doctors.The control group maintained the original oral health education in kindergarten.The three groups of children were asked to brush their teeth instead of gargling after lunch in kindergarten after the start of oral health education.One month later,the brushing behavior and plaque index of the participants were examined,and the plaque clearance rate was calculated,and the brushing behavior and plaque clearance rate were compared.Results: Before intervention,the brushing behavior score,brushing action score,tooth surface involved score and plaque clearance rate of the three groups were taken as baseline data,and there was no statistical significance in the baseline data of the three groups(P>0.05).One month later,the scores of brushing behavior [8.00(7.00,9.50),9.00(8.25,11.00)] in both theoretical and operational reinforcement groups were significantly higher than those at baseline [5.00(3.00,7.00),6.00(5.00,8.00)](P<0.05).One month later,the score of plaque clearance in the theoretical enhancement group and the operation enhancement group [0.46(0.40,0.58),0.44(0.39,0.48)] was also significantly higher than that at baseline(P < 0.05),and the score difference of brushing behavior in the theoretical enhancement group before and after intervention[2.00(1.00,5.00)] and the operation enhancement group [3.50(1.25,5.00)] had no statistical difference(P>0.05),and the difference of plaque clearance rate before and after intervention between the theoretical enhancement group [0.09(-0.14,0.47)] and the operation enhancement group [0.14(-0.07,0.43)] had no statistical difference(P>0.05).Brushing action scores [1.00(1.00,1.00),2.00(1.00,2.00)] in theoretical and operational reinforcement groups were higher than baseline [1.00(0.00,1.00),1.00(0.25,1.00)](P< 0.05).The scores related to dental surface [7.00(6.00,8.00),8.00(7.00,8.00)] in theoretical and operational strengthening groups were higher than baseline [4.00(3.00,6.50),5.00(4.00,7.00)](P < 0.05).The difference of brushing action score in the operation intensive group before and after intervention [1.00(0.25,2.00)] was better than that in the theoretical intensive group [0.00(0.00,1.00)],with statistical difference(P<0.05).The difference of tooth surface score in the theoretical intensive group before and after intervention [2.00(-4.00,11.00)] was not significantly different from the operation intensive group [2.50(-2.00,7.00)](P > 0.05).Conclusion: The two oral health education methods can significantly improve the brushing behavior and plaque clearance rate of kindergarten children,among which the improvement of brushing action score of operation reinforcement is better than that of theoretical reinforcement.