Impact of an oral health education program in Egyptian children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A cross sectional study.

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the oral health status in a group of Egyptian children, living with ADHD, before and after the implementation of an oral health education program. A total of 29 Egyptian children, aged 8-12 years old diagnosed with ADHD were enrolled in this study. Their oral health status was assessed using OHI-S. Oral health education program using audiovisual and verbal methods was addressed to the children and their caregivers. The children were advised to limit eating sugar to be once per week, and to brush their teeth twice a day. Modified Bass Technique of tooth brushing was demonstrated to the children using jaw model and toothbrush. A motivational visit was performed for the children after 1 month. At the end of the 3 months program, oral health status of the children was reassessed. The results showed that there was a significant increase in cases with "Good" scores after the oral health education program (p<.001), moreover, there was a significant decrease of OHI-S scores after the program (p<.001). The oral health education program was efficient in achieving improvement in the oral health status of children with ADHD.