2016 Volume 59 Issue 6 Pages 497-508
Objective: To develop an easily applicable oral health education program comprising saliva testing and a questionnaire survey, we investigated the usefulness of the program.
Methods: Of the 110 guardians of children who participated in the dental health services for mother and child organized by Yokkaichi Dental Association, the subjects consisted of 75 guardians (one man and 74 women; mean age: 36.5 years) who responded to the questionnaire two months after completing the oral health education program, and 61 guardians (one man and 60 women; mean age: 37.3 years) who responded to the questionnaire and participated in saliva testing 8 months after completing the program. Saliva testing measured turbidity and hemoglobin concentration in a mouth rinse solution, and the questionnaire assessed 11 items pertaining to periodontal disease, such as subjective symptoms and oral hygiene habits. These results were plotted on a radar chart, and subjects received individual health guidance from dental hygienists.
Results: 1. Of the subjects who had not visited a dental clinic in the past year, 11.8% and 16.7% visited a dental clinic by two and eight months, respectively, after completing the program. 2. The frequency of dental flossing increased significantly two months after completing the program (p<0.05) when compared to the frequency observed in the initial assessment; however, no difference was observed at eight months after completing the program. At two and eight months after completing the program, 50.7% and 32.8% of the subjects, respectively, showed new self-care behaviors for maintaining tooth and gingival health. 3. Turbidity and hemoglobin levels in the mouth rinse solution had decreased significantly at eight months as compared to those observed in the initial assessment (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). 4. Turbidity levels in the saliva test were significantly correlated with visiting a dental clinic in subjects who had not visited a dental clinic in the past year (p<0.05), and there were many dental clinic visits in the group which showed high turbidity. Moreover, hemoglobin levels were significantly correlated with new self-care behaviors for maintaining tooth and gingival health (p<0.01), and there were many new self-care behaviors in the group which had high hemoglobin levels.
Conclusion: These results suggest that the oral health education program combining saliva testing and a questionnaire survey may lead to increased frequency of patient visits to dental clinics and a change in self-care behavior for maintenance of tooth and gingival health.
