This document describes several school oral health programs from different locations and time periods. It provides details on the goals, implementation, and evaluation of programs in the US, Texas, Minnesota, North Carolina, and globally through the WHO. The programs generally aim to educate children about oral health, develop healthy habits, and reduce dental disease through activities in schools. Evaluation of many programs found reductions in tooth decay and positive changes in knowledge and behaviors.

1. SOME SCHOOL ORAL
HEALTH PROGRAMS

2. “Learning about your oral health”-a
prevention oriented school program
 Comprehensive program
covering current dental concepts
 1971 ADA House of delegates
 Primary Goal :
 is to develop the knowledge ,
skills and attitudes needed for
prevention of dental diseases
among school children

3.  Increase knowledge regarding diet and
dental health , stressing on the relationship
of sugar , starch, and caries
 Significance of fluoride , oral safety ,
consumer health concepts , the role of
dental professionals and the relationship of
oral health with total health

4.  IMPLEMENTATION
 Preschool ( designed for children too young
to read )
 Level 1 (kindergarten through grade 3)
 Level 11 (grades 4 through 6)
 Level 111 (grades 7 through 9)
 Level 1V (grades 10 through 12)
 Teaching packet includes :
 A teacher’s self –contained guide on dental
health facts with a section on handicapped
children
 A glossary of dental health terms

5.  a curriculum guide featuring content, goals ,
behavioral objectives and suggested
activities for other classes
 5 lesson plans for preschool and 7/more for
other levels
 4 overhead transparencies
 12 spirit masters
 Methods and activities for parental and
involvement
 Printed material and films about awareness
of the hazards of tobacco usage

6.  Evaluation:
 Dr. Oliver L Ezell in 1947
 It was found that the program influenced
favorably the oral health behavior than did
the traditional approach to oral health
education and effected favorable changes
in attitudes towards oral health practices

7. “TATTLETOOTH PROGRAM”-TEXAS
statewide preventive dentistry program
 In 1974-76 between the Texas dental health
professional organizations , the Texas
department of health and the Texas education
agency
 In 1989 the Bureau of dental health developed
a new program to replace this – Tattletooth 11
 3 video tapes were produced as part of
teacher- training package
 Consists of brushing and flossing, brochure
that provided an overview of the program
 A school nurse’s brochure
 A 2 hour training session using the materials in
the new curriculum was televised to the
schools via a video network

8.  Philosophy and goals:
 Six elements :
 1. anticipatory set
 2. setting the objective
 3. input modeling
 4.checking for understanding
 5. guided practice
 6. independent practice

9.  Implementation
 Hygienists instruct teachers using
videotapes designed for teacher training
and provide them with a copy of the
curriculum
 Health promotion activities are encouraged
and publicized within the school community
 Teachers are encouraged to invite a dental
professional to demonstrate correct
brushing and flossing in the classroom
 Importance of safety and factual information
relating to dental disease , its causes and
preventive tecniques

10.  Evaluation :
 Students in the grades 3,5,7,9 and 11 were
assessed by the Texas education agency
 Teacher evaluation is done annually by
principals and supervisors using a 65 – item
checklist
 Dental health knowledge was significantly
increased at all grades
 Plaque levels were decreased by 15% in a
randomly selected sample of 2,142 children
 Over 80% of the teachers judged the
program to be helpful and effective , by
1989 it was about 94%

11. ASKOV DENTAL DEMONSTRATION
 Small farming community with a population
mostly of Danish extraction
 1n 1949-57 the Minnesota department of
health supervised a demonstration of
school dental health program in Askov
 All methods for preventing dental caries
were used with the exception of communal
water fluoridation
 Findings through a 10 year period :
 28% reduction in dental caries in deciduous
teeth of children aged 3 to 5 years

12.  34% reduction in caries in the permanent
teeth of children 6 to 12 years old
 14% reduction in permanent teeth of
children 13 to 17 years old
 Improvements in filled – tooth ratios
 Benefits like good health and dietary habits
for the children to carry on to adult life

13. NORTH CAROLINA STATEWIDE
PREVENTIVE DENTAL HEALTH
PROGRAM
 1973 Frank .E. Law prepared a report for
the north Carolina dental society that
defined the extent of the dental disease
problem
 A steering committee developed a practical
plan for a program in the schools
 North carolina preventive dentistry program
for children (NCPDPC)

14.  Philosophy and goals:
 Young children are the primary focus for
education because the earlier a child is
reached, the greater the potential for
positively affecting the child’s attitudes ,
values and behavior.
 Objectives:
 Appropriate use of fluoride
 Health education in schools and
communities
 Availability of public health dental staff in all
counties

15.  Implementation:
 In the year 1990, services delivered through
the program included;
 The fluoridation of water supplies of 130
rural schools
 Weekly fluoride mouth rinse for more than
4,16,000 students in 1,051schools
 Screening and referral for more than
3,39,000 children
 Dental health education was presented
 More than 33,000 dental sealants were
applied

16.  Evaluation:
 Is a necessary ongoing process to measure
the effectiveness of the dental health
program
 34% reduction in decayed , missing and
filled teeth among children who had 8 years
experience drinking fluoridated water at
school
 53% reduction in decayed, missing and
filled permanent teeth among children who
had 10 years experience drinking
fluoridated water
 86% reduction in dental caries after 4 years
of sealant use on permanent teeth

17. Head start – pre-school dental health
program
 United states department of health and
human services initiated in 1965
 Focuses on assisting children from low
income families
 Longest- running program for stopping the
cycle of poverty
 Provides comprehensive education, health,
nutrition , and parent involvement services
to low income children and their families

18. School health additional referral
program (SHARP)
 Started in Philadelphia
 Purpose of motivating parents into initiating
action for correction of defects in their
children through effective utilization of
community resources
 The one-to-one basis of health guidance
between parent and health worker
established better rapport between school
and home

19. Teenage health education teaching
assistants program (THETA program)
 By national foundation for the prevention of
oral disease for the US department of
health and welfare , division of dental health
 Philosophy & goals:
 Dental personnel train high school children
to teach preventive dentistry to elementary
school children
 To give knowledge & skills to young
children
 Allows high school children to develop
understanding of young children
 Introduces them to career opportunities

20. Colgate’s bright smiles , bright futures
 By IDA
 This program emphasize the
importance of oral health as part of a
child’s overall physical and emotional
development
 Teacher’s training program , education
imparted with the aid of audio-visuals
and printed literature

21. World health organization’s (WHO’s)
global school health initiative
 Launched in 1995
 The initiative is designed to improve the
health of students , school personnel,
families and other members of the
community through schools

22.  Strategies :
 Research to improve school
health programs
 Building capacity to advocate for
improved school health programs
:
 Technical documents are generated
that consolidate research and expert
opinion about the nature , scope and
effectiveness of school health
programs

23.  Strengthening national capacities :
 Collaboration between health and educational
agencies is fostered and countries are helped to
develop strategies and programs to improve health
through schools
 Creating network and alliances for the
development of health promoting schools:
 Goal of WHO’s global school health initiative is to
increase the number of schools that can truly be
called health promoting schools( school constantly
strengthening its capacity as a healthy setting for
living , learning and working )

24.  Health promoting schools focus on :
 Caring for oneself and others
 Making healthy decisions and taking control
over life’s circumstances
 Creating conditions that are conducive to
health
 Building capacities for peace, shelter ,
education, food , income , a stable
ecosystem , equity , social justice ,
sustainable development
 Preventing leading causes of death ,
disease and disability
 Influencing health- related behaviors

25. Conclusion
◦ School oral health program should not
impose an excess or unusual teaching
burden on the teachers , it should be cost
effective in man power , money and
material and it should produce observable
results
◦ Since children are often the most
important victims of dental diseases ,
programs aimed at dental health of the
school children are of great importance in
promoting oral health of the community

26.  REFERENCES