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Evaluation of motivation methods used to obtain appropriate oral hygiene levels in schoolchildren *
Author(s) -
Rodrigues JA,
Dos Santos PA,
Garcia PPNS,
Corona SAM,
Loffredo LCM
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international journal of dental hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.674
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1601-5037
pISSN - 1601-5029
DOI - 10.1034/j.1601-5037.2003.00038.x
Subject(s) - medicine , oral hygiene , index (typography) , hygiene , presentation (obstetrics) , dentistry , physical therapy , surgery , pathology , world wide web , computer science
The aim of the present study is to assess the behaviour of different motivation methods on levels of oral hygiene among schoolchildren aged from 7 to 9 years in Araraquara, SP, Brazil. The methods tested were: indirect instruction using ‘The Smiling Robot’ (group I), indirect instruction through class presentation (group II) and direct instruction with macromodels (group III). A control group was also constituted, which received no kind of motivation (group IV). The O'Leary Plaque Index was used as the evaluation method, applied before the instruction and 30 days after application of the different methods. It was noted that the plaque index had not decreased in group IV only. In conclusion, all the motivation methods promoted significant decrease of plaque index and among these methods, the ‘The Smiling Robot’ was the one that provided the best results.