Dental health education by "barefoot doctors"

Three methods of oral health education in secondary schools

In 1990, three methods of oral health education (OHE) were implemented in three secondary schools in the city of Pori, Finland, one method in each school. The traditional OHE consisted of a lecture given by a dentist with the aid of transparencies and slides. The peer OHE consisted of a lecture given by six pupils from the upper grades. These pupils used transparencies and extracts of video films and had a classroom exhibition with pictures, slogans, and dental aids and instruments. The self-teaching OHE was based on an exhibition from which the pupils searched for the information themselves. After the programs, the pupils' opinions about the method itself, its contents and implementation, knowledge about certain oral health issues, and the possible effect of the method were determined by a questionnaire. The attitudes and opinions were most positive in the peer OHE group. The traditional OHE was quite well accepted, but the self-teaching method was not very successful. The participants in the traditional OHE more often felt that they had been encouraged to pursue good oral health habits. In all groups, the topic considered to be the most boring was tooth brushing. Peer OHE can be recommended for Finnish secondary schools. The issue of tooth brushing should be played down, however, as too frequent repetition of the topic may cause more negative attitudes towards oral health education and practices.