Impact of an Educational Intervention on Oral Health Knowledge and Bacterial Plaque Control in Male Secondary School Students in a Peruvian Province: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Male Students Belonging to an Educational Institution in a Peruvian Province

Variable	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Age group	11 and 12 years	160	54.4
	13 and 14 years	134	45.6
Area of residence	Urban	233	79.3
	Rural	49	16.7
	Marginal urban	12	4.1
Health professional as family member?	Yes (Dentist)	60	20.4
	Yes (Non-dentist)	99	33.7
	No	135	45.9
Educational level (Mother)	No education	14	4.8
	Primary	20	6.8
	Secondary	99	33.7
	Superior	161	54.8
Educational level (Father)	No education	21	7.1
	Primary	7	2.4
	Secondary	125	42.5
	Superior	141	48.0
Living with parents?	Only with mother	86	29.3
	Only with father	34	11.6
	Both	162	55.1
	None	12	4.1
Age	Mean	Median	SD
	12.5	12.0	0.6

Abbreviation: SD, Standard deviation.

Table 2 Comparison of Correct Answers About Oral Health Knowledge Before and After 4 Weeks of Receiving Educational Intervention

Questionnaire	Correct answers
	Before	After	*p
	f (%)	f (%)
Oral cavity pathologies related to poor oral hygiene.
Q1. Dental caries is a permanently damaged area in the tooth just by consuming sugars in excess.	93 (31.6)	223 (75.9)	<0.001*
Q2. Can pain, sensitivity and loss of teeth be consequences of caries?	228 (77.6)	254 (86.4)	0.001*
Q3. What are the causes of dental caries?	212 (72.1)	243 (82.7)	<0.001*
Q4. Do sealants, fluoride supplements and fluoride toothpaste help prevent dental caries?	188 (63.9)	236 (80.3)	<0.001*
Q5. What is bacterial plaque?	144 (49.0)	226 (76.9)	<0.001*
Q6. What is periodontal disease?	168 (57.1)	239 (81.3)	<0.001*
Q7. What is gingivitis?	203 (69.0)	246 (83.7)	<0.001*
Q8. What are the consequences of gingivitis?	213 (72.4)	252 (85.7)	<0.001*
Preventive treatments in oral health.
Q9. What are dental sealants?	171 (58.2)	246 (83.7)	<0.001*
Q10. Why are dental sealants necessary?	144 (49.0)	224 (76.2)	<0.001*
Q11. What are the benefits of fluoride?	202 (68.7)	239 (81.3)	<0.001*
Oral Hygiene Habits.
Q12. How often at least should you visit the dental office?	107 (36.4)	202 (68.7)	<0.001*
Q13. At what time of the day should you brush your teeth?	235 (79.9)	259 (88.1)	<0.001*
Q14. According to the World Health Organization, how many times a day should I brush my teeth?	28 (9.5)	182 (61.9)	<0.001*
Habits influencing oral health status.
Q15. Which of the following foods do you think are harmful to teeth?	268 (91.2)	275 (93.5)	0.189
Q16. What are the problems caused by tobacco in the mouth?	230 (78.2)	256 (87.1)	<0.001*
Q17. What happens if you use toothpicks to clean your teeth?	207 (70.4)	245 (83.3)	<0.001*
Q18. What are the correct elements of oral hygiene?	186 (63.3)	248 (84.4)	<0.001*
Q19. What are the characteristics of a good toothbrush?	141 (48.0)	249 (84.7)	<0.001*
Q20. What is the order of use of dental hygiene elements?	143 (48.6)	244 (83.0)	<0.001*

Note: *Based on Mc Nemar’s Chi-square (p<0.05, significant differences).

Table 3 Comparison of Oral Health Knowledge Before and After 4 Weeks of Receiving Educational Intervention According to Sociodemographic Variables

Variable	Categories	N	Level of Knowledge
			Before					After					**p
			Poor = 1	Fair = 2	Good = 3	Med / IQR	*p	Poor = 1	Fair = 2	Good = 3	Med / IQR	*p
			f (%)	f (%)	f (%)			f (%)	f (%)	f (%)
Age group	11 and 12 years	160	47 (29.4)	46 (28.7)	67 (41.9)	2 / 2	0.040*	1 (0.6)	23 (14.4)	136 (85.0)	3 / 0	0.854	<0.001
	13 and 14 years	134	56 (41.8)	33 (24.6)	45 (33.6)	2 / 2		8 (6.0)	10 (7.5)	116 (86.6)	3 / 0		<0.001
Area of residence	Urban	233	72 (30.9)	62 (26.6)	99 (42.5)	2 / 2	<0.001*	7 (3.0)	26 (11.2)	200 (85.8)	3 / 0	0.256	<0.001
	Rural	49	21 (42.9)	17 (34.7)	11 (22.4)	2 / 2		2 (4.1)	7 (14.3)	40 (81.6)	3 / 0		<0.001
	Marginal urban	12	10 (83.3)	0 (0.0)	2 (16.7)	1 / 0		0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	12 (100.0)	3 / 0		0.002
Health professional as family member?	Yes (Dentist)	60	22 (36.7)	18 (30.0)	20 (33.3)	2 / 2	0.390	2 (3.3)	7 (11.7)	51 (85.0)	3 / 0	0.408	<0.001
	Yes (Non-dentist)	99	35 (35.4)	32 (32.3)	32 (32.3)	2 / 2		7 (7.1)	10 (10.1)	82 (82.8)	3 / 0		<0.001
	No	135	46 (34.1)	29 (21.5)	60 (44.4)	2 / 2		0 (0.0)	16 (11.9)	119 (88.1)	3 / 0		<0.001
Educational level (Mother)	No education	14	8 (57.1)	4 (28.6)	2 (14.3)	1 / 1	0.060	0 (0.0)	3 (21.4)	11 (78.6)	3 / 0	0.308	0.002
	Primary	20	10 (50.0)	5 (25.0)	5 (25.0)	1.5 / 2		1 (5.0)	4 (20.0)	15 (75.0)	3 / 1		<0.001
	Secondary	99	36 (36.4)	24 (24.2)	39 (39.4)	2 / 2		2 (2.0)	9 (9.1)	88 (88.9)	3 / 0		<0.001
	Superior	161	49 (30.4)	46 (28.6)	66 (41.0)	2 / 2		6 (3.7)	17 (10.6)	138 (85.7)	3 / 0		<0.001
Educational level (Father)	No education	21	9 (42.9)	6 (28.6)	6 (28.6)	2 / 2	0.011*	2 (9.5)	3 (14.3)	16 (76.2)	3 / 1	0.593	<0.001
	Primary	7	6 (85.7)	0 (0.0)	1 (14.3)	1 / 0		0 (0.0)	1 (14.3)	6 (85.7)	3 / 0		0.020
	Secondary	125	46 (36.8)	40 (32.0)	39 (31.2)	2 / 2		5 (4.0)	12 (9.6)	108 (86.4)	3 / 0		<0.001
	Superior	141	42 (29.8)	33 (23.4)	66 (46.8)	2 / 2		2 (1.4)	17 (12.1)	122 (86.5)	3 / 0		<0.001
Living with parents?	Only with mother	86	24 (27.9)	25 (29.1)	37 (43.0)	2 / 2	<0.001*	3 (3.5)	9 (10.5)	74 (86.0)	3 / 0	0.714	<0.001
	Only with father	34	23 (67.6)	5 (14.7)	6 (17.6)	1 / 1		1 (2.9)	6 (17.6)	27 (79.4)	3 / 0		<0.001
	Both	162	48 (29.6)	48 (29.6)	66 (40.7)	2 / 2		4 (2.5)	17 (10.5)	141 (87.0)	3 / 0		<0.001
	None	12	8 (66.7)	1 (8.3)	3 (25.0)	1 / 2		1 (8.3)	1 (8.3)	10 (83.3)	3 / 0		0.008
Overall		294	103 (35.0)	79 (26.9)	112 (38.1)	2 / 2		9 (3.1)	33 (11.2)	252 (85.7)	3 / 0		<0.001

Notes: *Based on the Mann Whitney U-test and Kruskal Wallis test for comparison of 2 independent groups or more, respectively (p<0.05, significant differences). **Based on Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p<0.05, significant differences). f, Absolute frequency.

Abbreviations: Med, Median; IQR, Interquartile range.

Table 4 Comparison of OHI-S Before and After 4 Weeks of Receiving Educational Intervention According to Sociodemographic Variables

Variable	Categories	N	OHI-S Level
			Before					After					**p
			Fair = 1	Good = 2	Excellent = 3	Med / IQR	*p	Fair = 1	Good = 2	Excellent = 3	Med / IQR	*p
			f (%)	f (%)	f (%)			f (%)	f (%)	f (%)
Age group	11 and 12 years	160	132 (82.5)	26 (16.2)	2 (1.3)	1 / 0	0.080	10 (6.2)	112 (70.0)	38 (23.8)	2 / 0	0.669	<0.001
	13 and 14 years	134	120 (89.6)	14 (10.4)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		14 (10.5)	87 (64.9)	33 (24.6)	2 / 0		<0.001
Area of residence	Urban	233	197 (84.5)	34 (14.6)	2 (0.9)	1 / 0	0.521	19 (8.2)	159 (68.2)	55 (23.6)	2 / 0	0.921	<0.001
	Rural	49	44 (89.8)	5 (10.2)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		5 (10.2)	30 (61.2)	14 (28.6)	2 / 1		<0.001
	Marginal urban	12	11 (91.7)	1 (8.3)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		10 (83.3)	2 (16.7)	0 (0.0)	2 / 0		0.002
Health professional as family member?	Yes (Dentist)	60	51 (85.0)	8 (13.3)	1 (1.7)	1 / 0	0.909	2 (3.3)	42 (70.0)	16 (26.7)	2 / 1	0.551	<0.001
	Yes (Non-dentist)	99	86 (86.9)	13 (13.1)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		14 (14.1)	58 (58.6)	27 (27.3)	2 / 1		<0.001
	No	135	115 (85.2)	19 (14.1)	1 (0.7)	1 / 0		8 (5.9)	99 (73.3)	28 (20.8)	2 / 0		<0.001
Educational level (Mother)	No education	14	13 (92.9)	0 (0.0)	1 (7.1)	1 / 0	0.537	3 (21.4)	8 (57.2)	3 (21.4)	2 / 1	0.401	0.008
	Primary	20	19 (95.0)	1 (5.0)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		0 (0.0)	15 (75.0)	5 (25.0)	2 / 1		<0.001
	Secondary	99	83 (83.8)	15 (15.2)	1 (1.0)	1 / 0		8 (8.1)	62 (62.6)	29 (29.3)	2 / 1		<0.001
	Superior	161	137 (85.1)	24 (14.9)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		13 (8.1)	114 (70.8)	34 (21.1)	2 / 0		<0.001
Educational level (Father)	No education	21	18 (85.7)	2 (9.5)	1 (4.8)	1 / 0	0.475	3 (14.3)	14 (66.7)	4 (19.0)	2 / 0	0.576	<0.001
	Primary	7	5 (71.4)	2 (28.6)	0 (0.0)	1 / 1		0 (0.0)	5 (71.4)	2 (28.6)	2 / 1		0.038
	Secondary	125	111 (88.8)	13 (10.4)	1 (0.8)	1 / 0		7 (5.6)	86 (68.8)	32 (25.6)	2 / 1		<0.001
	Superior	141	118 (83.7)	23 (16.3)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		14 (9.9)	94 (66.7)	33 (23.4)	2 / 0		<0.001
Living with parents?	Only with mother	86	73 (84.8)	12 (14.0)	1 (1.2)	1 / 0	0.905	7 (8.1)	52 (60.5)	27 (31.4)	2 / 1	0.032^a	<0.001
	Only with father	34	30 (88.3)	3 (8.8)	1 (2.9)	1 / 0		4 (11.8)	27 (79.4)	3 (8.8)	2 / 0		<0.001
	Both	162	138 (85.2)	24 (14.8)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		13 (8.0)	113 (69.8)	36 (22.2)	2 / 0		<0.001
	None	12	11 (91.7)	1 (8.3)	0 (0.0)	1 / 0		0 (0.0)	7 (58.3)	5 (41.7)	2 / 1		0.001
Overall		294	252 (85.7)	40 (13.6)	2 (0.7)	1 / 0		24 (8.2)	199 (67.7)	71 (24.1)	2 / 0		<0.001

Notes: *Based on Mann Whitney U-test and Kruskal Wallis test for comparison of 2 independent groups or more, respectively (p<0.05, significant differences). **Based on Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p<0.05, significant differences); ^aWith Bonferroni post hoc correction, it was observed that there were no significant differences between independent pairs (p>0.05). f, Absolute frequency.

Abbreviations: Med, Median; IQR, Interquartile Range.