EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPERVISED TOOTH BRUSHING EXERCISE ON THE ORAL HYGIENE STATUS OF SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN IN PESHAWAR

Objective: To determine the effects of supervised tooth brushing exercise on the oral hygiene status of school going children in Peshawar. Study Design: Prospective observational study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at a girl’s government school in university town, Peshawar, from Jul to Dec 2018. Methodology: All girls between age 7-10 years with mixed dentition, minimum plaque index score 2 and gingival index score 0 were included in the study. Sixty four girls were allocated into group A (intervention) and group B (control) using computer generated random numbers. Intervention group (32 subjects) was exposed to video plus supervised tooth brushing on a cast model while control group (32 subjects) only exposed to video on brushing technique. The plaque index score was recorded for oral hygiene status as outcome measure of intervention after one month. Results: The mean age of the participants was 9.53 ± 1.08 years. There was statistically significant difference in the plaque scores of interventional and control group after one month (0.3125 ± 0.470 vs. 1.312 ± 0.644, p<0.001) as compared to baseline data (1.90 ± 0.296 vs. 2.0 ± 0.00, p=0.83). The difference for frequency of tooth brushing between the two groups was not statistically significant (p=0.088). Parental watch during tooth brushing between the two groups was statistically insignificant (p=0.055). Conclusion: Supervised tooth brushing improved the oral hygiene status of the children therefore oral health education was effective in establishing good oral health among school children.