Effectiveness of Oral Health Education Using Child Model Video vs Conventional Education by Dentist among Orphanage Children of Puducherry, India: A Prospective Interventional Study

Introduction: Orphan children are usually abandoned by their parents and these children are more vulnerable to oral health problems due to lack of knowledge and psychological support. These children do not receive adequate preventive health care and often suffer from oral health diseases. Oral Health Education (OHE) is the paramount of health promotion and prevention of oral health disease and also it throws some light on unattended oral health problems.

Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and oral hygiene practices among 10 to 15 year-old orphanage children and to compare the effectiveness of OHE using video (child model) vs conventional method (Dentist) on knowledge, attitude and oral hygiene practices.

Materials and Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted among 120 orphanage children of 10-15 years in Puducherry, India. OHE using dentist and child model OHE video intervention was given to group I and group II, respectively. Knowledge, attitude and practice scores of both the groups was assessed at pre-test, post-test and 15 days follow-up using a prevalidated questionnaire. The data thus collected were statistically evaluated using repeated measures of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), independent t-test, percentage.

Results: When compared with baseline, a significant increase in knowledge, attitude and practice scores were seen in post-test and follow-up of child model video group when compared to conventional dentist led OHE group (p≤0.001). The results of this study indicate that knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral health were improved in OHE using child model video group.

Conclusion: From the results of this study it was found that incorporation of video in imparting OHE using child model can be an effective tool in improving oral health knowledge and it is evident that these children will be more confident, comfortable receiving instructions from children of their age group.