%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of Two School
%A Ece Eden
%A I£¿£¿l S£¿nmez
%A Melis Akyildiz
%J International Quarterly of Community Health Education
%@ 1541-3519
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0272684X18819980
%X This study evaluated the effectiveness of two school-based oral health education (OHE) programs on the oral health knowledge and behavior and oral hygiene of 9-year-old children in Turkey. The study included 1,053 school children aged 9 years in Aydin, Turkey. This study was a prospective, two-arm, and parallel-group clinical trial between two different OHE programs. The dentist group received one lecture on OHE given by dentists in the classroom. The teacher group had a similar lecture given by school teachers, including supporting materials which were available throughout the academic year. Oral health knowledge and behavior were evaluated with a questionnaire at baseline, and then at 1 and 6 months. In total, 110 students were randomly selected to undergo a plaque accumulation assessment according to the Silness¨CL£¿e Index at baseline and 1 month later to determine the effects of the education programs on oral hygiene. At baseline, tooth-brushing frequency was similar in the study groups. Compared with baseline, the frequency of brushing increased significantly after 1 and 6 months in both groups (p£¿<£¿.001). Teacher education was more effective for teaching correct brushing techniques (p£¿<£¿.001). A significant decrease in plaque accumulation has been evaluated in both study groups at the 1-month examination after the education session (p£¿<£¿.05). Both OHE programs were found to generate improvements in knowledge and behavior of children on oral health and plaque control in the short term
%K oral health behavior
%K oral health knowledge
%K plaque index
%K dentists
%K teachers
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0272684X18819980