title: Impact of school based oral health education programmes in India: a systematic review.
abstract: The teaching of Oral Health Education aims at preventing the dental disease and promoting dental health at early stages. Schools are powerful places to shape the health, education and well-being of our children. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of school dental health education programmes conducted in various parts of India. A systematic review from available literature was carried out. The study examined papers relating to oral health interventions which were published between 1992 and 2012. Ten articles were selected and included in the review. All the studies were found to contain the required information on the outcomes of school dental health programmes in India. Different methods were used to deliver oral health education. All the studies reported significant improvement in oral hygiene of school children after imparting dental health education. In some studies, school teachers were also trained to impart oral health education. Decreased level of awareness was found in children coming from low income families. Longer duration studies are needed to improve the results. School dental education programmes should be more focused on north-eastern Indian population.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital , Rajpura, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Ramandeep Singh
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Gambhir
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital , Rajpura, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Ramandeep Kaur
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sohi
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, PGIMER , Rohtak, Haryana, India .
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.affiliation: Intern, Private Practitoner, Private Practitoner , Chandigarh, India .
authors.forename: Gurjashan Singh
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Sawhney
authors.affiliation: Intern, Private Practitoner, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital , Rajpura, Punjab, India .
authors.forename: Saniya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Setia
keywords: Dental; Education; Impact; Programme; School