SEHAT Virtual Oral Health Promotion for School Adolescents in Pakistan (SEHAT)

April 17, 2026 updated by: Sadia Musharraf, Shifa College of Dentistry

Evaluating the Impact of Novel Oral Health Promotion Program "SEHAT" Among Adolescents in Pakistan's Resource-Constrained Settings: A Cluster Randomized Trial

The goal of this cluster-randomized trial is to learn if the SEHAT program works to improve oral health among school adolescents in Pakistan. It will also assess how the program affects oral health behaviors and knowledge. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Does the SEHAT program improve toothbrushing behavior and oral hygiene?
  2. Does the SEHAT program reduce plaque and gingival scores among adolescents?
  3. Does the program improve oral health knowledge and awareness?

Researchers will compare the SEHAT virtual intervention with conventional oral health education and a control group to see which approach is most effective.

Participants will:

  1. Take part in either the virtual SEHAT session or conventional in-person oral health education, or receive no intervention (control)
  2. Watch structured 30-minute sessions delivered via Zoom (virtual group) or classroom instruction (conventional group)
  3. Participate in follow-up assessments to measure plaque, gingival indices, and oral health knowledge and behaviors.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is a cluster randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of the SEHAT (School-Based Education for Oral Health Awareness Using Advanced Telecommunication Technology) intervention among adolescents aged 11-14 years in public schools in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The trial aims to improve oral health behaviors, knowledge, and clinical outcomes, including plaque and gingival scores.

Schools (clusters) will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: virtual SEHAT intervention, conventional in-person oral health education, or control (no intervention). The virtual intervention will deliver structured 30-minute sessions via Zoom, incorporating interactive elements, culturally relevant content, and reinforcement strategies, while the conventional group will receive the same content through face-to-face classroom instruction.

Outcome assessments will include clinical oral health measures (plaque and gingival indices) and self-reported oral health knowledge and behaviors, collected at baseline, post-intervention, and at follow-up timepoints to evaluate short- and medium-term effects. The study will also explore sustained engagement, feasibility, and acceptability of digital oral health education in resource-constrained school settings.

This trial addresses gaps in evidence regarding digital oral health interventions in low-resource settings, particularly for adolescents, and will provide data to guide scalable, culturally adapted, school-based oral health promotion strategies.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

1500

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Sadia Musharraf, BDS, MCPS, PhD (Candidate)
  • Phone Number: 92 321 6127576
  • Email: sadia.scd@stmu.edu.pk

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
      • Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 34178
        • Public Schools, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For the Schools/grades:

  • Public high schools situated in the urban and rural areas of the Rawalpindi city, Punjab, Pakistan to account for the regional variations.
  • Single-gender schools housing classes 6th to 10th.
  • A minimum total enrollment of 300 - 500 students
  • A minimum of 30 students per section in the targeted grades (6th, 7th, and 8th).

  • The schools that sign an agreement to

    • Participate in the trial
    • Be randomized to any of the study arms
    • Assign the trial related tasks to the teachers. For study participants.
  • Currently enrolled students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.
  • Diverse socioeconomic backgrounds
  • Students with parental and personal informed consent to participate in the trial

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Students currently undergoing active orthodontic treatment.
  • Students with physical or cognitive impairments that prevent the use of digital interfaces.
  • Students with systemic medical conditions that manifest as oral health complications.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual SEHAT Intervention
A structured oral health promotion session delivered virtually using interactive sessions designed to improve oral health knowledge and behaviors.
Behavioral: SEHAT Virtual Oral Health Education
A structured oral health promotion program delivered virtually using interactive sessions designed to improve oral health knowledge and behaviors.
Active Comparator: Conventional Oral Health Education
Face-to-face classroom-based oral health education session using standardized content.
Behavioral: Conventional Oral Health Education
Face-to-face classroom-based oral health education using standardized content.
No Intervention: Control Group
Participants receive no intervention during study period. Intervention: Leave blank

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Silness-Löe Plaque Index
Time Frame: Baseline and follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 12 months

The index assigns a score from 0 to 3 based on the amount of plaque present on four surfaces of a tooth.

0 = No plaque in the gingival area. 3 = Abundance of plaque along the gingival margin. Higher scores indicate a worse outcome (greater accumulation of dental plaque).
Baseline and follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Shifa College of Dentistry

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sadia Musharraf, BDS, MCPS, PhD (Candidate), Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer e Millat University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 17, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SEHAT-CRT-2026

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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