Implementation of Game-based Oral Health Education vs Conventional Oral Health Education on Children's Oral Health-related Knowledge and Oral Hygiene Status.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: For the prevention of oral health problems, health education of schoolchildren has a vital role. The oral health status of the children can be improved if health promotion in schools is conducted in a comprehensive and interesting manner. OBJECTIVE: Effectivity of game-based oral health education over conventional on the oral health-related knowledge and oral hygiene status among 8- to 12-year-old schoolchildren. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 150 children aged 8 to 12 years were divided into two groups. A pretest evaluation of their knowledge regarding oral health and the estimation of plaque index was carried out. Children in group I were given oral health education through PowerPoint presentation once daily for 7 days. Children in group II were educated through the play method (i.e., crosswords and quiz with PowerPoint presentation). The evaluations regarding oral health-related knowledge and plaque scores were recorded on postintervention 1 and 3 months. RESULTS: In group II, high knowledge scores of 10.32 and 9.98 were obtained by the on postintervention 1 and 3 months respectively. In both the groups, there was a significant increase in good oral hygiene scores and a significant decrease in plaque scores on postintervention 1 and 3 months follow-up, but much better scores were seen in group II compared to group I at both the follow-ups. CONCLUSION: Implementation of crossword game-based oral health education program is an easy and effective aid for teaching oral health instructions and preventing oral diseases in children as the knowledge scores of children increased considerably when the game-based teaching intervention was used. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE Malik A, Sabharwal S, Kumar A, Samant PS, Singh A, Pandey VK. Implementation of Game-based Oral Health Education vs Conventional Oral Health Education on Children's Oral Health-related Knowledge and Oral Hygiene Status. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017;10(3)257-260.