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Effectiveness of an oral health educational intervention for individuals with special health care needs from a southern Brazilian city
Author(s) -
Hartwig Andreia Drawanz,
Stüermer Vanessa Müller,
SilvaJúnior Ivam Freire,
Schardosim Lisandrea Rocha,
Azevedo Marina Sousa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/scd.12246
Subject(s) - medicine , intervention (counseling) , oral health , family medicine , health care , environmental health , gerontology , nursing , economic growth , economics
Aim To assess the effects of an oral health education strategy targeted at students with disabilities. Methods This quasi‐experimental study included students aged 7 to 24 years. The intervention was conducted for 5 weeks and divided into 2 phases: (1) comprising supervised toothbrushing and educational activities to students; (2) verbal oral health instructions and oral hygiene demonstration targeted at the caregivers. A clinical examination was conducted to evaluate the dental debris and gingival bleeding before the intervention, and the Wilcoxon test was performed after phase 1 and 2 for comparisons between paired samples. Results A significant decrease in dental debris and gingival indices compared with baseline occurred after phase 1 ( p < 0.05). After the meeting with caregivers (phase 2), there was significant decrease in the debris‐index ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Providing a simple and short‐term educational intervention to students with disabilities had a positive impact on their oral health.