title: Gingivitis and plaque scores of 8- to 11-year-old Burmese children following participation in a 2-year school-based toothbrushing programme.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study assessed whether gingivitis and plaque scores of 8- to 11-year-old school children who participated in a SBTB programme for 2 years were lower than those of children who did not participate in the programme.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study was performed using an examiner-blind, parallel group design and was performed in Burma (Myanmar) in 2006. Three of the five schools where daily SBTB programmes took place after lunch and which were performed under teacher supervision were randomly selected; three non-participating schools (non-SBTB) from the same area were assigned as controls. Twenty-five children per school were examined for gingivitis (bleeding on marginal probing) and plaque (Quigley & Hein).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 150 8- to 11-year-old children participated, with 75 children in either group. The test group (SBTB) exhibited an overall mean bleeding score of 0.76. For the control group (non-SBTB), this score was 0.83. With respect to the overall mean plaque scores, the test group exhibited a score of 2.93, whereas the control group exhibited a score of 2.91. No statistically significant differences between the test and the control group were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study did not reveal a statistically significant effect of daily SBTB programmes in 8- to 11-year-old school children with respect to gingivitis and plaque scores.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Academic Centre for Dentistry, Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. n.rosema@acta.nl
authors.forename: N A M
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Rosema
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: van Palenstein Helderman
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Van der Weijden
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D002052:Myanmar; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012571:School Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome