Assessment of gymnasiumpupil’s knowledge regarding oral hygiene

and prevention basic rules

First author: Popa Bianca-IrinaCoauthors: Olaru Șerban-Nicolaie, Popa Marius-FlorinCoordinator: Dr. Tohati Adrian

Comparison between urban and rural environment

BackgroundThe dental status has a massive impact on

the quality of people’s life

The level of oral hygiene in a certain environment is linked to - economy

- education

Background

Proper oral hygiene :

- brush teeth 2-3 times/ day

- use complementary methods

- change the toothbrush every 3 months

- go to a dental check-up every 6 months

BackgroundLack of a good oral health leads to:

- dental caries

- tophus

- tooth loss Dental caries are one of the most common health

problems, especially among children and older adults

Objectives Determine gymnasium pupil’s level of oral

hygiene

Assess pupil’s knowledge about the basic rules in oral hygiene

Teach children the importance of a good oral care

Influence their daily routine

Material and method Children aged between 10 and 15 from four counties:

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș

In EACH county we worked with 600 children:

- 300 urban

- 300 rural

Total of 2400

Material and method Stage 1

Questionnaire(10

questions)Presentatio

n(30

minutes)

Material and Method Stage 2

(2 months later)

Questionnaire(10

questions)

Feedback

Results62 children missed school in the second stage

of our study – it didn’t affect our result

The data was collected with Microsoft Excel and statistically analyzed

We based our conclusions on seven questions ( the most relevant in our questionnaire)

1. How often do you brush your teeth? URBAN

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%65.6

0%

64.5

4%

61.2

2% 7

1.7

3%

71.6

2%

68.3

8%

67.0

2%

80.4

8%

Stage 1Stage 2

Chart: Children who brush their teeth 2-3 times/day

Average evolution – 6.10%

1. How often do you brush your teeth?RURAL

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%45

.75%

56.6

1%

55.2

3%

58.3

0%62.9

2%

66.5

1%

56.8

4%

72.7

2%

Stage 1Stage 2

Children who brush their teeth 2-3 times/day

Average evolution: 10.77%

1. How often do you brush your teeth? Children who brush their teeth once/week: Brașov – Urban: 6 – 4 Rural: 10 – 6 Brăila- Urban: 5 – 3 Rural: 12 – 4 Bacău- Urban: 6 – 3 Rural: 11 – 9 Mureș- Urban: 3 – 1 Rural: 4 – 1 ( 1 NEVER brushed his teeth)

2. How long do you brush your teeth?URBAN

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%14

.09%

20.3

3%

30.9

7%

19.0

4%

42.5

6%

43.2

2%

41.9

5%

53.6

5%

Stage 1Stage 2

Chart: Children who brush their teeth for 3-4 minutes

Average evolution: 24.24%

2. How long do you brush your teeth?RURAL

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

50.00%14

.33%

25.5

1%

27.9

4%

13.0

9%

45.2

3%

45.9

8%

45.8

9%

38.3

3%

Stage 1Stage 2

Chart: Children who brush their teeth 3-4 minutes

Average evolution: 23.64%

3. Do you use dental floss and mouthwash?

UrbanStage 120.15%

Stage 224.72%

Average results in all 4 counties

Children who use both mouthwash and floss

3. Do you use dental floss and mouthwash?

RuralStage 113.75%

Stage 216.45%

Average results in all four counties

The highest percentage was registered in Târgu-Mureș (28.98%)

Children who use both mouthwash and floss

4. How often do you change your toothbrush? Urba

nStage 155.72%

Stage 263.45%

Rural

Stage 158.39%

Stage 262.15%

Children who change their toothbrush every 3 monthsAverage results in all four counties

Surprising fact: In the first stage, there were 29,15% more children who declared they buy a new toothbrush every three months in the rural environment in Brăila than in the urban environment in Bacău.

5. How often do you go to a dental control?Urba

nStage 139.48%

Stage 247.02%

Rural

Stage 124.27%

Stage 234.91%

Average results in all four counties

The best results in Târgu-Mureș:• 50,07% in stage one and

63,82% in stage two – with at least 21,26% more than the other three counties

• in the first stage only 1,81% of pupils declared they have never went to a dental control (10 times less than the other 3 counties)

Children who go to a dental check-up every 6 months

6. What dental caries represent? URBAN

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

57.0

0%

55.8

4%

53.3

3%

55.0

7%

65.2

0%

80.3

2%

64.8

7% 72.2

0%

Stage 1Stage 2

Children who knew that dental caries represent the distruction of the tooth

6. What dental caries represent?RURAL

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

59.8

0%

57.2

8%

51.8

2%

54.4

1%

71.7

6%

84.3

7%

73.2

8%

54.5

4%

Stage 1Stage 2

Children who knew that dental caries represent the distruction of the tooth

• Best results (overall ) : The rural environment in Brăila

• Worst results (overall): The rural environment in Mureș

7. Why do dental cavities occurre?URBAN

Brașov Brăila Bacău Mureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

79.9

3%

50.1

6%

69.3

3%

79.6

2%

81.7

5% 87.7

4%

70.6

0%

83.3

3%

Stage 1Stage 2

Children who knew that bacterial plaque leads to tooth decay

7. Why do dental cavities occurre?RURAL

BrașovBrăila BacăuMureș0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

59.8

0%

49.4

9% 54.8

1% 60.1

0%67.0

0%

66.9

6%

75.0

0%

61.2

6%

Stage 1Stage 2

Children who knew that bacterial plaque leads to tooth decay

• Best results (overall): The urban environment in Brăila

• Overall, in Bacău, better results in the rural evironment than in the urban one

Feedback89,54% of the children

declared that they found our project useful

79,70% of them said that they would be excited to learn more in school or through this kind of projects about oral hygiene.

DiscussionsIn Romania, nowadays, tooth loss and cavities are the most

common affections, especially in the rural environment and other poor areas, so prevention plays an important role.

To our knowledge, no other studies were performed in Romania regarding gymnasium pupil’s knowledge about oral hygiene.

We observed a greater interest about this subject among pupils aged between 10 and 12, which were more active during our presentation, asking questions and being practically involved.

In the rural environment, the children were more willing to participate in the future at such projects.

DiscussionsOur results were influenced by the

differences of language ( in Mureș county, were we worked in schools with a high incidence of magyar children ) and by pupil’s attention and educational level.

Given the large number of subjects included and considering all those factors and the fact that in the rural environment we worked in very poor areas in all four counties, our study was relevant.

ConclusionsIn the urban environment pupils are better informed about the

basic rules of oral hygiene and apply them more properly than children in the rural environment.

The results led us to the conclusion that prevention campaigns are necessary in the Romanian villages.

In Brașov and Brăila pupils were more perceptive and the evolution from one stage of our study to the other was more significant than in the other two counties.

The statistics from the first stage show that children from the urban environment in Mureș had the most knowledge about oral care.

ConclusionsThe most reluctant lot was in Bacău, especially in the

urban environment, followed by children from the villages of Mureș county.

Our feedback was highly favorable and pupils declared that our information was helpful and they applied what they have learnt.

Children are also desirous to participate again to prevention projects and they would even like to interpolate a special class about oral health care into their school timetable.

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The investigation and it’s methods: questionnaire, interview for producing data, comprehensive interview; Singly, Francois, Alain Blanchet, Anne Gotman, Jean-Claude Kaufman; Polirom 1998.

Parodontologie; Horia Adrian Dumitriu, Silvia Dumitru; Viața Medicală Românească 2009.

Zahnartzliche Hygiene; Bobmann, Heinenberg J.; Tieme 2002

Thank you!