Impact of School-Based Oral Health Education on Vietnamese Adolescents: A 6-Month Study

Vy Thi Nhat Nguyen, Takashi Zaitsu, Akiko Oshiro, Tai Tan Tran, Yen Hoang Thi Nguyen, Yoko Kawaguchi and Jun Aida
Additional contact information
Vy Thi Nhat Nguyen: Department of Oral Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Takashi Zaitsu: Department of Oral Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Akiko Oshiro: Department of Oral Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Tai Tan Tran: Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue 530000, Vietnam
Yen Hoang Thi Nguyen: Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue 530000, Vietnam
Yoko Kawaguchi: Department of Oral Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Jun Aida: Department of Oral Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: We have evaluated the impact of a school-based intervention on oral health knowledge, behaviours, and oral health status of adolescents in Vietnam. This 6-month study included 462 adolescents aged 12 years from four selected schools in Hue City, Vietnam. The intervention group received a 15-min lecture by a dentist and hands-on session on mouth observation and toothbrushing skills. The control group did not engage in any educational activities during the follow-up period. Data were collected at baseline and 6 months through a survey questionnaire and clinical examination. The Debris Index was used for dental plaque; the Papillary, Marginal, Attached gingiva index for gingivitis; and the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth index (World Health Organization modification) for dental caries. Difference-in-difference analysis was used to compare changes between the groups. After 6 months, the control tended to show decreased toothbrushing frequency and increased dental plaque accumulation. The participants in the intervention group showed improved oral health knowledge ( p < 0.01), behavior ( p < 0.05), and hygiene ( p < 0.001) compared to the control group. However, the intervention did not improve dental caries and gingivitis. A single school-based oral health education program can help adolescents improve oral health knowledge and prevent the deterioration of short-term oral health behavior and hygiene.

Keywords: health education; secondary schools; oral hygiene; adolescent; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2715/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2715/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2715-:d:512682

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().