Effect of Oral Health Education on Oral Health Status, Treatment Needs and Barriers to Care
Condition: Dental Caries; Gingivitis
MeSH terms: Gingivitis; Dental Caries
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Jordanian children have very poor oral hygiene parameters, and this is reflected as very high
      caries prevalence and poor gingival health conditions. This study will focus on children at
      social homes in the community in order to establish a baseline reference about their oral
      health status, treatment needs, and barriers to dental care. Also, to report the efficacy of
      oral health education using audio-visual aids and frequent motivation on oral health status,
      treatment needs and barriers to care among children at social homes in Jordan.
    

Detailed description: 
      The oral health status (OHS) for children and adults is a reflection of the whole body
      general health status as well as the overall quality of life. Jordanian children have very
      poor oral hygiene parameters, and this is reflected as very high caries prevalence and poor
      gingival health conditions. Orphans and children who come from broken homes are suspected to
      have poorer oral health conditions from their peers in the public due to the different
      parameters that can affect their general health in whole and oral health in particular, and
      this could affect their quality of life. These parameters can be related to socioeconomic
      status, psychological and behavioral conditions, access to care and other factors. The role
      of tooth brushing in decreasing dental caries and enhancing the gingival health is
      well-established in the literature, and oral health education programs have proven to be
      effective in improving the oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior of children. These
      programs could be regarded as an effective measure to enhance the oral health status and
      establish good routines in childhood which is vital for optimum oral health and provision of
      lifelong protection against caries.

      This study will focus on children at social homes in the community in order to establish a
      baseline reference about their oral health status, treatment needs, and barriers to dental
      care. Also, to report the efficacy of oral health education using audio-visual aids and
      frequent motivation on oral health status, treatment needs and barriers to care among
      children at social homes in Jordan.
    

Intervention name(s): Basic oral health education and motivation; Intensive oral health education and motivation
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Subjects will receive verbal oral hygiene instructions using a model to demonstrate only once at the beginning of the study, no further motivation or educational seminars will be done.; Subjects will be educated and motivated by an intensive program consisting of verbal instructions, PowerPoint lectures, posters and live demonstrations about oral hygiene instructions and teaching the proper way to brush the teeth. These will be reinforced by the investigator at intervals of 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: This is a cross-sectional study on a randomly selected group of children from randomly selected social homes in Jordan. Children and/or the care giver (n=500) will answer a questionnaire in an interview about his/her demographics, oral health related habits, the child general health status, the child oral health related quality of life, barriers to getting dental care, treatment needs for those children.
A thorough clinical examination will be done to these children by a mouth mirror and explorer at a suitable room in the social home. The investigators will record the baseline oral health status parameters (Caries, gingival health and presence of plaque).
For the interventions; A representative sample (25%) will be divided to two subgroups; group one (Study) and group two (Control) which will be matched for age and gender.
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Oral health status; Dental treatment needs; Barriers to dental care; Children at social homes