2000 Volume 50 Issue 5 Pages 790-797
The effects of a preventive care program for gingivitis performed in Shiozawa Middle School (Shiozawa) since 1986 were evaluated in this paper. The program consisted of instruction in appropriate oral hygiene procedure to the 7th grade (12-year-old) students and recommendations to all 7th-9th grade students with a CPI (Community Periodontal Index) score over 2 to visit private dental clinics and receive oral hygiene instruction and professional care. We compared the periodontal health status and the oral health behavior of 170 (83 boys : 87 girls) 10th grade (15-year-old) students who had graduated from Shiozawa to 378 (166 boys : 212 girls) who had graduated from other middle schools (Others). When the periodontal health status was assessed utilizing the CPI, it was shown that the periodontal health of students from Shiozawa was significantly better than that from Others. It was also shown, according to the results of the questionnaire, that more students from Shiozawa had received instruction in proper brushing technique and had received professional scaling at dental clinics than those from Others, and that the students from Shiozawa were more likely to practice better daily oral hygiene. Consequently, the preventive care program, which was designed to control gingivitis in middle school students, might contribute substantially to an improvement in their overall oral health condition.