Year : 2019

Volume : Volume 10

Issue : Issue 1s

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Ankita Jha.
drankitajha09@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  Oral health education is effective in improving the knowledge, attitude and practice of oral health along with plaque control. Video based learning and teaching in dentistry has been documented in various fields. This mode of education have beneficial effects on the development of interpersonal and communication skills, more in situations like treatment of children as observed in previous studies. In children with special needs like Cognitive impairment, dental care is taken as low priority due to their fear of discomfort. Feeding problems among them leads to offering foods that will be accepted, without regard for nutrient content. All these increase their susceptibility for poor oral hygiene. So this study is aimed to assess the acceptance and benefits of Oral Health Education Program in these children by means of video based clips over conventional methods of oral health education for the prevention of periodontal problems.   Material and Methods:  Total of 100 children with cognitive impairment were enrolled in the present trial. Caries status and oral hygiene status were assessed by DMFT Index and Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) of Greene and Vermillion respectively. The subjects were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups.  Group (1) was given oral education with help of tooth brush model, child himself/herself in front of the mirror and Group (2) was given video based oral health education. Results of both groups were compared on the basis of outcome of Simplified Oral Hygiene Index at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. Assessment of their brushing skills and their involvement in oral hygiene maintenance was performed by OHI-s index. Paired ‘t’ test and student t-test were employed for statistical analysis.  Results: According to evaluation of plaque made at 3 months and 6 months, both Group I showed similar plaque control as Group II. At 6 months also both the groups showed similar results. Both groups showed increased involvement in their oral hygiene maintenance after 3 months and 6 months.  Conclusion: Video based oral health education is widely gaining popularity and is being used for communication in school and at home for pediatric patients including children with mental disorders. The present study showed that use of audiovisual aids have similar benefits as manual mode of oral hygiene education and thus can be used as adjunctive, reinforcement tool for improving oral hygiene of these children with special needs.

Keywords: Oral Health Education, special child, oral hygiene.