Abstract
Objective: To explore the barriers encountered by primary school teachers, to implementing oral health education in their settings. Material and methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was answered by a sample of 89 primary schoolteachers aged 18 to 65 years working in primary public schools in Indaiatuba, SP, Brazil. The data were quantitatively analyzed by means of the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DCS), which is based on a theoretical framework of Social Representations Theory. Results: The majority of teachers said they were teaching their students some oral health content. However, they reported difficulties in teaching oral health content in school, such as: the lack of material and/or appropriate activities to teach the subject of oral health properly; children do not receive oral health education at home and/or it is not encouraged by their families; students do not place any value on oral health and/or do not follow guidance provided. Teachers also expressed the need for partnerships with dental schools to help them implement oral health projects in primary schools. Conclusions: The results emphasize the need for health and educational sectors support primary school teachers in the implementation and maintenance of oral health education programs in schools.
Highlights
I t is known that oral diseases have impacts on children’s and adolescents’ quality of life, leading to pain, discomfort and missed days at school [1,2,3]
Data were collected by means of a questionnaire sent by mail to teachers in the selected schools, containing questions about age and length of time they had been working as primary school teachers, asking if they worked with oral health content in the classroom, and the following open-ended question: Which are difficulties that you encounter when teaching oral health content to your students? After 10 days the researcher went to all schools to collect the questionnaires
The average length of time working as a primary school teacher was 12.86 years
Summary
I t is known that oral diseases have impacts on children’s and adolescents’ quality of life, leading to pain, discomfort and missed days at school [1,2,3]. Enabling school staff to provide schoolchildren with information about health care would help them to gain knowledge, skills and attitudes to maintain and enhance their oral health [4]. Within this context, schoolteachers are considered fundamental agents in school health programs and lack of training and support creates a greater barrier for effective implementation of school health education interventions [8,9]. These professionals coexist with children on a daily basis, and they have links with the schoolchildren’s families and school communities, thereby becoming multiplying agents of health both within and outside of the institutions where they work [8]
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