Oral health education in schools: promoting health agents.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to verify the influence of preschool children participating in an oral health education programme on daily health practices of their families, through parent's perception.


METHODS
A sample of 119 parents of 5- to 6-year-old preschool children were selected. Data were collected using a structured open-closed questionnaire, self-administered. The questions focused on parents' knowledge about activities of oral health education conducted in school, the importance given by them to these activities, learning from their offspring and the presence of habit change at home.


RESULTS
In total, 63 (52.9%) parents agreed to participate. Ninety-eight per cent knew about educative and preventive activities developed at school and all of them affirmed that these activities were important, mainly because of knowledge, motivation and improvement in children's health. Ninety and half per cent of parents reported that they learned something about oral health from their children and, among these, almost half (47.8%) cited toothbrushing as the indicator for better learning. Besides this, 87.3% of participants revealed the change in oral health habits of their family members.


CONCLUSIONS
Preschool children were able to transmit knowledge acquired at school to their parents that included change in oral health routine of their family members.
Garbin
Cas
C
Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Araçatuba School of Dentistry, UNESP-São Paulo State University, Araçatuba, SP, Brazil. cgarbin@foa.unesp.br
Garbin
Aji
A
Dos Santos
Kt
K
Lima
Dp
D
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control; D005195:Family Relations; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D015438:Health Behavior; D006267:Health Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D009042:Motivation; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012578:Schools, Nursery; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014099:Toothbrushing