Supervised Brushing Programme for Intellectual Disabled Students

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Intellectual disabled persons faced more dental problems. According to a medical review paper of international and local studies, this group has poorer dental hygiene, more severe gum disease and more untreated caries. In 2010, a report from the guardians in Hong Kong mentioned that most adults with intellectual disability cannot clean their teeth, the have dental problems and it is very difficult for intellectually disabled students to co-operate during the dental treatment. In order to alleviate their dental problems, supervised toothbrushing programme and an oral health education talk are proposed. The investigators investigate the effectiveness of the supervised toothbrushing programme and an oral health education talk. The target group of the study is mild to moderate grade intellectual disabled students of special schools in Hong Kong. A clustered randomised controlled trial design is adopted.

Detailed Description
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Intellectual disabled persons faced more dental problems. According to a medical review paper of international and local studies, this group has poorer dental hygiene, more severe gum disease and more untreated caries. In 2010, a report from the guardians in Hong Kong mentioned that most adults with intellectual disability cannot clean their teeth, the have dental problems and it is very difficult for intellectually disabled students to co-operate during the dental treatment. In order to alleviate their dental problems, supervised toothbrushing programme and an oral health education talk are proposed. The investigators investigate the effectiveness of the supervised toothbrushing programme and an oral health education talk. The target group of the study is mild to moderate grade intellectual disabled students of special schools in Hong Kong. A clustered randomised controlled trial design is adopted.

Official Title
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Supervised Toothbrushing Programme and Oral Health Education for Intellectual Disabled Students: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

Conditions
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Oral Health, Intellectual Disability, Randomized Controlled Trial

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: 3-month supervised tooth brushing programme
* Behavioral: oral health education talk


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Mild and moderate grade intellectual disabled students in special schools. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Those students who have simultaneously joined other oral health programme during the study period. 2. Those students with the presence of conditions rendering a need of antibiotic prophylaxis prior to periodontal examination e.g. rheumatic heart disease. 3. Uncooperative students that oral examination is not possible.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 6 Years
Maximum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Cluster randomized controlled trial
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control Group<br>This group receive nothing during the study period. | |
| Experimental: Intervention Group<br>A 3-month supervised tooth brushing programme will be provided to the students. An oral health education talk with written material delivered to the carers and the students | Behavioral: 3-month supervised tooth brushing programme<br>* One or a few dental hygienists, who are trained to teach how to brush and provide scaling, will supervise the students to brush daily in school for three months.<br>Behavioral: oral health education talk<br>* It is conducted by a dentist, while written materials will be delivered to the students and their carers.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gingivitis score | Measuring the change of oral conditions of the students | A study period of 3 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plaque score | Measuring the change of oral conditions of the students | A study period of 3 months |