title: Oral Health Education Program on Dental Caries Incidence for School Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This 3-year retrospective controlled clinical trial assessed the effect of a school-based oral health education program on caries incidence in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 240 students, aged 5 to 7 years, from two public schools in Monte Sião, Brazil, were included in this study. A school-based oral health education program was developed in one of the schools (experimental group), including 120 students, while the 120 students from the other school did not participate in the program (control group). All children were initially examined for dental caries (dmf-t), and after 3 years, 98 children from the experimental group and 96 from the control group were again examined and answered a questionnaire on oral health issues. The between-groups difference in caries incidence on permanent teeth was calculated using Poisson regression analyses. Logistic regression was used to observe the association between caries incidence and other variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More students from the experimental group stated knowing what was dental caries and declared that they use dental floss daily, but no significant differences in caries incidence was observed between the experimental and control groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The school-based oral health education program is not adequately efficient to decrease caries incidence after three years, but some issues about oral health knowledge could be slightly improved.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Jaime
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Bonini
authors.forename: Jcp
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Imparato
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Mendes
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006267:Health Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000193:education*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012571:School Dentistry; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides
keywords: Dental caries; dental education; prevention