Evaluation of outcomes of dental health education program for children from 2 to 5 years of age and their caretakers in Ratchaburi province, Thailand

Abstract

Oral health free from caries is one of the important factors of health and well-being for human beings at the start of their lives as newborns. The purpose of this research is to study outcomes of dental health education program with dental caries status in children from 2 to 5 years of age in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. This research evaluated outcomes of dental health education of 2nd phase of quasi experimental study design. The total sample size was 289 children accompanied by their parents, divided into two groups. Treatment group (n=205) received comprehensive dental health education program and routine group (n=84) received routine dental health education program. Interview-administered questionnaires were used to collect data followed by dental health examination for children. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, chi square and independent t test. The results showed that most children were more than three years old and boys. Moreover, most caretakers had secondary school or higher education level and employed with family income of more than or equal to 10,000 baht per month. Sociodemographic characteristics had no significant difference among treatment and routine groups. Dental caries prevalence was higher in treatment group (73.2%) than in routine group (52.4%). For primary outcome of dental caries improvement, dental caries occurrence in routine group (mean 3.49) was lower than that of treatment group (mean 4.96) with significant difference (p 0.021) among the groups. For secondary outcomes, higher oral hygiene practice was seen more in routine group (mean 4.63) than in treatment group (mean 4.54), whereas treatment group had greater level of dental caries knowledge (mean 8.24) than routine group (mean 8.19). For feeding practice, treatment group (mean 2.47) was higher than routine group (mean 2.40). These secondary outcomes had no significant differences among two groups. In conclusion, dental caries occurrence was still high in both groups. Assessments on measurements for outcomes were done, and it was found that treatment group had better dental caries knowledge and feeding practices, whereas routine group had better oral hygiene practices with lower caries occurrence. The results suggest that further intervention be conducted for dental caries reduction in children.