School-based Oral Health Education Program Using Experiential Learning

"School-based Oral Health Education Program Using Experiential Learning or Traditional Lecturing in Children and Adolescents: a Clinical Trial"

The aim of this project was to compare the effectiveness of experiential learning (EL) and traditional lecturing (TL) school-based oral health education on the oral health knowledge, attitude, habits, oral hygiene, gingival health and caries incidence of 10 and 13-year-old Greek children. Thee hundred and fifty children were selected from three areas of Greece. Information on oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviour were obtained using a questionnaire. Dental plaque was recorded using a modified hygiene index, gingivitis was assessed using the simplified gingival index and dental caries was measured by recording the number of Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth (DMFT) using the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) criteria. All children were examined by two calibrated dentists, using a World Health Organisation (WHO) periodontal probe and artificial light. Questionnaires were delivered and clinical examinations were performed at baseline and at 6 and 18 months post-intervention. The EL oral health educational program was implemented by teachers using the program's manual.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Gingivitis; Caries
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Experiential learning oral health education

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 351
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 9 years to 14 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 10 and 13 year-old children
• For the EL group, students were recruited from schools that had teachers previously trained in EL
• Students recruited for the TL group attended schools of the same geographical location as students in the EL group

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contributory medical history

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experiential learning; Oral health education using experiential learning (EL)	Behavioral: Experiential learning oral health education
Placebo Comparator: Traditional lecturing; Oral health education using traditional lecturing (TL)	Behavioral: Experiential learning oral health education

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline in dental plaque, gingivitis and caries at 6 and 18 months in 350 children	350 children were clinically examined and dental plaque, gingivitis and caries were recorded using appropriate indexes. 6 and 18 months later, children were re-examined using the same method to test if there was any change on the dental plaque, gingivitis and caries level and if this change differ significantly between the two different oral health education groups (Experiential learning or Traditional Lecturing).	baseline, 6 and 18 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Matina Angelopoulou
• Investigators: Study Chair: Constantine Oulis, DDS,MS,PhD, Dental School, University of Athens

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Angelopoulou MV, Kavvadia K, Taoufik K, Oulis CJ. Comparative clinical study testing the effectiveness of school based oral health education using experiential learning or traditional lecturing in 10 year-old children. BMC Oral Health. 2015 Apr 28;15:51. doi: 10.1186/s12903-015-0036-4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 11, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 15, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): December 19, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 30, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2017
• Last Verified: December 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Stomatognathic Diseases; Periodontal Diseases; Mouth Diseases; Gingival Diseases; Gingivitis
• Other Study ID Numbers: Marquette U