Dental health education Dr Raya Al-Naimi
Is defined as the science that take our dental health to reach its maximum level, it is a process with intellectual, psychological and social dimensions relating to activities which increase the abilities of people to make informed decisions affecting their personal, family and community well being. This process is based on scientific principles. This process is based on scientific principles facilitates learning and behavioral change in both health personnel and consumer including children and youth. In the past it was defined as :The provision of health information to people in such a way that they apply it in everyday living, the focus of health education is on people and on action.
In general its aims are to persuade people
1- To adopt and sustain in health life practices.2- To use judiciously and wisely the health services available to them .
3- To take their own decisions both individually and collectively to improve their health status and environment.
The prevention and control of dental ill health fits this framework, dental disease can be controlled if individual :
1- Controls sugar intake and effective plaque removal.
2- Correct use of the available dental services can aid in early diagnosis and treatment of disease .
3- The health of the mouth can be improved by the community taking steps to alter the environment by implementing fluoridation of public water supplies .
Health education component
1- Formal health educationIs a planned activity organized by a particular group or profession trying to influence the behavior of individual families and communities , the primary aim is to try to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and population practices .
2- Informal health education
Is often unplanned and haphazard affair, it relates to transfer of knowledge with in families and communities, parents , freinds and peer groups play important part in the process, the fact transmitted often have no scientific validity but being transmitted from one another .
Dental health messages
The main messages are based on up to date scientific information
1- Insist on fluoridation or when impossible use other fluoride supplement.
Flouridation of water supply has been an important influence on dental health of community (reduce dental caries 50 60 % ). When there is no piped water supplies or difficult to implement water fluoridation, fluoride supplements can be used as an alternative ,these supplements aimed at imparting 1 mg of fluoride per person per day.
Flouride supplements ex tablets, drops, fluoridated salt, fluoride mouth rinse, school water fluoridation.
To reach their maximum effect, supplements need to be taken regularly through out the period of tooth development (systemic fluoride ) i.e. till 16 years of age .
2- Restrict food and drinks containing suger to meal times and eat only non sugar snacks between meals .
Dietary advice is principally related to sucrose intake. In the past advice was given on the need to restrict the intake of all forms of fermentable carbohydrate , more recent evidence has stressed the importance of sucrose in caries etiology and in particular the frequency of sucrose ingestion and the length of time it remains in the mouth .
The link between the intake of sugar between meals and caries has been established and is considered the most important item in determining the rate of dental decay, recent health programmes have emphasized the need to limit suger containing foods and drinks to meal times and to find suitable substitutes for between meal snaks ex cheese , crisps and peanuts
3- Clean the teeth and gums thoroughly every day with fluoridated toothpaste
The objective of oral hygiene education is to produce a change in behavior which will result in a reduction of plaque accumulation, if possible to prevent the initiation and progression of periodontal disease. It is generally assumed that good oral hygiene practices are best aquired in childhood when they may be intergrated with other developing health habits.Personnel oral hygiene procedures are an important method of preventing periodontal disease, the most commonly recommended procedure in oral hygiene is tooth brushing and use of auxillary aids as dental floss, mouth rinse, tooth picks, interdental brush, disclosing agents.
4- Periodic visit to the dental clinic ( regular dental attendance)
Regular dental attendance has been advocated to allow the application of preventive measures such as topical fluoride, fissure sealant and to reinforce dental health education and to enable the early diagnosis and treatment of dental disease, as the early stages of caries and periodontal disease may not produce symptoms, the ordinary person may be quit unaware of its presence.Health Belief Model
This particular theory sought to indicate the likelihood of a person adopting a recommended health action in terms of the following four factors :1-Knowledge.
2-Perceived a susceptibility ( if you know you are susceptible to a disease, you take action.)
3-Potential severity of the condition (if you know that this disease is serious and you are susceptible to it , so you do action )
4-Preventive behavior .
School Dental Health Education
Dental health education for children has been a high priority for the dentist because of the high prevalence of dental disease (as dental disease) in this age group .Also the school is considered as the most logical and practical setting to implement large scale dental health education programmes .The school based dental health program provides an apportunity to reach the largest number of children during the early stages of development when habit patterns can be more easily established .Also it provides an environment conducive to learning and reinforcement for a considerable period of time and allows the teacher ( educator ) to utilize various strategies for inducing
Children to partake in appropriate preventive dental health actions.
Methods of education
1- Direct methods :A- One to one : patient education at the chair side by dentist or ancillaryز
Advantages : it is a more effective method, the message is understood and more accepted by reciepient, to evaluate the patients dexterity and to recommend appropriate hygiene techniques and patient participation.
Disadvantages : costly , time consuming, fear , need lage number of dental manpower .
B- Group instruction : as in schools, factory و public meetings, lectures .
Advantages : more effective in terms of cost and time, large population benefit.Disadvantages : less effective than one to one .
2- Indirect method (use of media )
A- Mass media : as T.V, radio and press.Advantages :efficient way and relative cheapness to reach large audiences
( from low income level ).
Disadvantages: it reinforce exsisting beliefs and opinions , rather than is changing or converting them .
B- Audio-visual aids : posters, films, slides, charts, self teaching manuals, leaflets, exhibits ( a picture is worth a thousand words)
Advantages :the taped message can be more concise , they can be planned with more thought and do not depend on the mood of the operator at the time of his making of his point , while teachers may neglect a point or two, a planned discussion of facts places emphasis where it is most needed, it reaches to more population .
Disadvantages :the importance of patient participation , also in low level reading ability little benefit obtained .
Factors influencing the frequency of preventive behavior :
Frequency of dental visits is affected by ;
1- Amount of income , increased visits with increased income and vice versa .
2- Level of education .
3- Level of occupation .
4- Area of residence .
5- Gender, females more than males because females are more interested in their look and esthetics.
Factors related to avoid preventive behavior :
1 Negative attitude to dentist .
2- Fear from pain and anxiety .
3- Socio economic status .
4- Social variable.
Negative attitude to dentist
1- The patient will not like the dentist .2- There is no opportunity for the appointment .
3 - No trust to the dentist .
4-If the dentist has no good performance to patient .
5 If dentist himself does not believe in the preventive behavior.
Fear from pain and anxiety
1- The friendly relationship between dentist and patient will increase interest of patient to his dentist so that he will follow instructions in doing preventive behavior, also providing a private atmosphere will improve the patient psychology.2- If the appointment will not be fixed and the patient has a certain time to visit the dentist , then he will not be able to visit the dentist again .
3- Trust in the dentist is very important .
4- Good performance ; if the patient does not receive a good performance from his dentist , he will not visit him again.
5- Behaving preventively ; if the patient practices to do preventive measures or not will elevate or increase the optimal level of prevention, he will not practice instructions.
Socioeconomic status
When socioeconomic status of patient increases the demand for dental care also increases which will lead to mpre utilization of dental services , so that the patient can select the dentist who behave preventively .