| dc.description.abstract | The evaluation aimed to assess the effectiveness of the school oral health education (ORE) programme in Thamaga, a rural village about 40km west of the capital Gaborone. The Oral Health Division (Botswana) had introduced the programme in schools throughout the country in 1984. The school ORE programme in Thamaga was introduced less than five years previously but not all schools could be covered before the time of the study. The delivery of weekly dental services at the primary hospital in the area had been inconsistent. The evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the programme in a cross-sectional study by comparing dental health knowledge, reported oral hygiene practices, DMFS scores and gingival bleeding index of randomly selected standard five schoolchildren, aged 10-16 years (n=135). Two schools in Thamaga
were selected for the study, designated as programme (experimental) and non-programme (control) schools in this comparative study. The hypothesis proposed that children from the programme school will have better oral health (less dental caries and gingivitis), have better dental health knowledge and better oral hygiene practices than children from the non-programme school. The effects of this school ORE programme were measured firstly by a clinical examination for dental caries using the WHO DMFS index and for gingivitis using a bleeding index derived from the WHO CPI. This was to compare the proportion of children with these dental diseases in the two schools. Secondly, a close-ended questionnaire was administered to the children to assess most importantly, their knowledge of dental diseases (dental caries and gum disease) and their reported OH practices. The extent of correct dental health knowledge was minimal but about 88 percent of all the schoolchildren from both the programme and non-programme schools (n=135) reported their source of information as being the school. Generally, children from the non-programme school had higher average scores of correct responses on dental caries and gingivitis than those from the programme school. This difference in knowledge was not statistically significant (p>O.05).It was apparent from the results of the interview that the majority of the children have misinformation about disease-specific signs and symptoms, causes and prevention of dental disease, the use and benefits of fluorides and dental floss. The majority of the children reported that they do self-examination of their teeth and gums daily and the commonly reported OH practices were the use of a toothbrush and toothpaste at least twice a day. However, these reported oral hygiene practices were not commensurate with the level of gingivitis recorded. Out of all the study participants, only one child from the programme school reported using a chewing stick for cleaning teeth. The majority of the children were found to have poor periodontal health indicated by gingivitis. About 90 percent and 82 percent of the children from the programme and non-programme schools respectively had gingivitis. Only 10 percent (programme) and 18 percent (nonprogramme) of the children did not have any bleeding-gingival sites (GBI=O). The poor oral hygiene found in children from the programme school might imply that the practical aspects of plaque control
and oral hygiene were not intensive enough to motivate the children. Most children were found to have minimal caries; mean DMFS scores of 0.14 (SD=0.49) and 0.12 (SD=0.45) for programme and non-programme schools respectively and 91 percent caries-free for each of the two schools. These differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05). The low prevalence of caries and the minimal difference between groups might be attributed to the following; the low prevalence of dental caries at baseline and the action of fluoride in drinking water. The study indicates that the programme has had a minimal impact if any, in the programme school. The findings suggest a need to correct the prevailing basic misinformation about dental health and motivation of teachers and the dental team to be more involved in the programmes. | en_US |
