Oral Health Educational Program on Oral Hygiene Knowledge and Practices in a Group of Orphan Children

Effect of Oral Health Educational Program on Oral Hygiene Knowledge and Practices in a Group of Orphan Children: A Before and After Study

An orphan is defined as "a child under the age of 18 whose mother, father, both parents, and a primary caregiver has died, and who is in need of care or protection". Orphans, therefore, are considered disadvantaged and socially marginalized population whom diseases burden is high. Egypt has 1.7 million orphaned children. The number of children between the age of 0 and 17 who are currently registered in orphanages is 12,015. Dental diseases especially plaque, gingival and dental caries are highly preventable, with the highest prevalence in the developing countries. Profound disparities exist in oral health status across different social and economic divisions. The pattern of orphanage living is quite different from family living as the latter provides physical security, food, and shelter but is devoid of psychological security. High prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and dental trauma has been observed in children of orphanages. This has been attributed to many factors such as: lack of adequate staff, poor oral hygiene, improper nutrition and eating patterns, high consumption of sugary food, negligence of tooth brushing, moreover the children and caregivers knowledge, level of education and oral health illiteracy. Untreated oral diseases could lead to psychological and general health problems, pain and loss in school time. Recognition of these problems is essential to provide optimum oral health for these deprived children. Health education is an important tool of public health and an effective primary preventive method especially for school aged children in controlling plaque, gingival and dental diseases.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Dental Caries; Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Oral health educational program

Detailed Description

The aim of this study is to raise more awareness about the causes of dental diseases (plaque, gingival and dental caries and their prevention through implementing an educational program to the orphan children focusing on tooth brushing, proper use of fluoride products and proper nutrition. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the impact of the oral health education program on the Knowledge and practices of the orphans and also its effect on the gingival health and dental caries among the children in different branches of orphanages in Egypt.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 139

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Cairo, Egypt, 11559
    • Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This study is carried out at orphanages from different branches in Egypt. The study was conducted using a convenient sample of orphan children aged 7years and above.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Orphan Children aged 7 years old and above.
• Educated children.
• No learning difficulty.
• No medical conditions.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any child that refuses to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

5

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Wadi Hof Orphanage children; Orphan children at that Wadi Hof Branch	Other: Oral health educational program; Oral health educational program about oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries and techniques of tooth brushing
El-Doki Orphanage children; Orphan children at that El-Doki Branch	Other: Oral health educational program; Oral health educational program about oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries and techniques of tooth brushing
Helwan Orphanage children; Orphan children at that Helwan Branch	Other: Oral health educational program; Oral health educational program about oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries and techniques of tooth brushing
Misr Elgadida Orphanage children; Orphan children at that Misr Elgadida Branch	Other: Oral health educational program; Oral health educational program about oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries and techniques of tooth brushing
6th October Orphanage children; Orphan children at that 6th October Branch	Other: Oral health educational program; Oral health educational program about oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries and techniques of tooth brushing

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Oral hygiene knowledge, and practices of the orphan children	Questionnaire including 20 questions about the oral hygiene knowledge and practices of the children. This questionnaire was used before the educational program and after 2 months from the program	Before the educational program and after 2 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dental Caries experience for permanent dentition	DMF index for permanent teeth	Before the educational program and after 2 months
Dental Caries experience for mixed dentition	Both dental caries indices (DMF and def) are used to provide the caries experience of each participant, they are not added together and reported separately as mixed dentition has both primary and permanent teeth, so we need to record primary teeth with def and permanent teeth with DMF	Before the educational program and after 2 months
Oral hygiene	Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified which is assessed through scores from 0-3	Before the educational program and after 2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cairo University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 16, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 20, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 15, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 13, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 20, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 27, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 27, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 20, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Stomatognathic Diseases; Tooth Diseases; Tooth Demineralization; Dental Caries
• Other Study ID Numbers: CEBD-CU-2025-02-13

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No