[Dental knowledge and evaluation of school dental care by school graduates in Berne canton].
In 1996, a letter was written to 401 High-School level graduates of 20 randomly selected schools in the canton of Berne, Switzerland. Out of these 401, 343 individuals could be interviewed and subsequently be given a clinical examination comprising a plaque revealing test. The average plaque index was 70%. The assessment of the questionnaires showed a comprehensive basic dental knowledge of the students so that reasonable care of their teeth could be expected. Whereas almost everyone used a toothbrush regularly, flossing fell short in the majority of the cases. Outside the class-rooms, concentrated F-preparations were hardly used systematically. Besides parents and the family, dentists and specifically trained auxiliaries (school dental health assistants, SDHA) were found to play a central role in the mediation of theoretical knowledge and in the practical instruction of oral hygiene procedures. They received mostly good grades by the students for their work. The regular teaching staff, however, fell clearly behind the SDHAs. In spite of the obviously big influence on the youth, the dentists play only an insignificant role in some places. Overall, the students consider dental health education as relatively important placing it on the same level as sex education. Since SDHAs do not visit the classes during the last five years any longer, teaching of dental prophylaxis has been reduced in many communities to fluoridation with concentrated F-preparations. Negative consequences such as uncertainty regarding tooth brushing techniques, handling dental floss and questions as to oral hygiene behavior after leaving school have already been registered. With the academic year 2000/01 one visit by an SDHA to the upper level classes (last five years) was reintroduced. This tepid reaction by the Bernese education authority to a massive weakening of public dental health promotion will hardly suffice to keep up the remarkable level of dental prevention reached over the past decades, let alone to warrant substantial progress. The study has also demonstrated that the acquisition of knowledge is based on repetitive efforts. This is the fundamental reason for systematic monitoring and re-instruction of dental hygiene procedures also during the last five classes of mandatory scholarity.
Kronenberg
O
O
Universität Bern, Klinik für Zahnerhaltung, Präventiv- und Kinderzahnmedizin, Freiburgstr. 7, 3010 Bern. otmar.kronenberg@zmk.unibe.ch
Jungo
K
K
Minder
T L
TL
Stassinakis
A
A
Lussi
A
A
Hotz
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D003726:Dental Assistants; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D011897:Random Allocation; D012571:School Dentistry; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D014099:Toothbrushing