Effect of dental health education on the oral health status of a rural child population by involving target groups.

India, a developing country faces many challenges in rendering oral health needs. The majority of Indian population resides in rural areas, of which more than 40% constitute children. These children cannot avail dental facilities due to inaccessibility, financial constraints and stagnation of public dental healthcare services. This entails the health professional to adopt a more practical approach to achieve primary prevention of oral diseases. The most viable solution seems to be dental health education. Documented evidence shows that teachers and parents can augment dental health behaviour. With this background, it was decided to target children in a rural area for comparing the effect of education on children alone, children coupled with teachers and children with the involvement of their parents. An interventional study of 4 months duration was conducted on 430 children, 7 teachers and 100 parents. The parents were educated at home. Clinical oral health status was assessed prior to the delivery of dental health education and also following the intervention. Results showed that the dental health scores improved best in the group of children involving the teachers. It was concluded that teachers could be targeted in order to enhance the effect of dental health education campaigns on children.