Abstract
BackgroundVisually impaired children encounter some challenges for their oral health. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of oral health education using Audio Tactile Performance (ATP) technique alone, ATP combined with oral health education for mothers, and ATP along with art package on the oral health status of visually impaired children.Materials and methodsThis cluster, randomized trial, included visually impaired children from preschool to 10th grade (32 classes, n = 200), in Tehran, Iran, in 2018–2019. A questionnaire was filled out through face to face interviews at baseline regarding age, gender, status of visual impairment, and place of residence. The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and Bleeding on Probing (BOP) were examined afterward. Classes were randomly assigned to three groups through simple randomization: 1. Art group (ATP, game-based, and music-based education (11 classes, n = 66); 2. Mothers group (children received ATP and their mothers received education by telephone (10 classes, n = 73); and 3. Control group (children received ATP (11 classes, n = 61). Children received reinforcement after 1 and 2 weeks. Follow-up oral examinations were performed after 1 and 2 months by a blind calibrated examiner. Descriptive statistics were performed using Chi-Square, and ANOVA tests by SPSS (version 22). In analytic statistics, two-level mixed-effects models for BOP and OHI-S were fitted using the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) version 9.4. Both models fitted with the grouping variable and time (baseline, 1, and 2 months after interventions) as the fixed effects.ResultsThe mean age (SD) of the children was 12.29 (3.45) years (range: 6–17). Male children (67%) more than female children (33%) participated in the study. Also, 35.5% were blind, and 12% resided at the dormitory. The art and mothers groups had no statistically significant difference compared with the control group, in terms of OHI-S (P = 0.92, and 0.39, respectively) and BOP (OR = 0.64, and 0.66, respectively). The time effect was statistically significant in both BOP and OHI-S models (P < 0.0001).ConclusionsATP technique is an effective method to improve the oral health status of visually impaired school children. Oral health promotion programs can be done using this method to tackle oral hygiene problems in visually impaired children.Trial registration(https://www.irct.ir/trial/34676: Nov 29th, 2018)
Highlights
Impaired children encounter some challenges for their oral health
The art and mothers groups had no statistically significant difference compared with the control group, in terms of Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) (P = 0.92, and 0.39, respectively) and bleeding on probing (BOP) (OR = 0.64, and 0.66, respectively)
The different parts of the model in the present study are following: 1- Fluoride therapy is routinely provided for the 1st to 6th grades by the Iranian Ministry of Health, as a national program, twice a year in all schools; 2- The educational level of mothers is an enabling factor; 3- children’s oral health conceptions are predisposing factor; and 4- Mothers’ oral health knowledge, attitude, and behavior as well as supervision of child’s tooth brushing are considered as reinforcing factors [28]
Summary
Impaired children encounter some challenges for their oral health. Congenital cataract and retinopathy of prematurity are the leading causes of vision impairment in low-income and high income countries respectively [2]. Studies show that poor oral hygiene [4,5,6], dental caries [4,5,6,7,8,9], various levels of periodontal diseases [4, 7,8,9,10], trauma to the anterior teeth [6, 9, 11], and hypoplastic teeth [11] are frequent in visually impaired children. Poor oral health in these children may be caused by different factors including lack of knowledge and behavior about oral hygiene [4], infrequent dental visit [4, 6, 7], difficulty to access oral care facilities, and neglection of parents and health providers while the focus is kept predominantly on managing their existing disability [4, 12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
