Abstract
The use of dental floss is important in preventing gingivitis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a gingivitis prevention programme promoting the use of dental floss. The subjects consisted of 86 10-year-old children. Among the subjects, 39 children were assigned to the educational group. They were instructed by dental hygienists to use dental floss for their anterior teeth. Forty-seven students who did not receive instruction were used as controls. During the study period, the students in the educational group used dental floss after lunch everyday under the guidance of school teachers. For the assessment of gingival status, measurements were carried out by a dentist using the modified papilla bleeding index and the plaque index for the anterior 10 papillae. During a six-month period, the change in number of bleeding sites in the educational and the control group was -1.64±2.49 and -0.45±2.68, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.037, t-test). During an 18-month period, the number of bleeding sites per person in the educational group decreased significantly from 4.67±3.01 at baseline to 2.35±2.47 (p<0.001, t-test). In addition, fundamental knowledge about gingivitis, "causes of gingivitis" and "aims in use of dental floss", in the educational group was compared between baseline and after 18 months. The percent of children who answered the questions about causes and goals appropriately increased significantly from 2.6% and 20.5% at baseline to 53.8% and 79.5% after 18 months, respectively. There was a significant difference in knowledge about gingivitis between baseline and after 18 months (p<0.001, p<0.001, chi-square test). These results show that a gingivitis prevention programme recommending the use of dental floss contributes to the prevention of gingivitis in school children.
