[The prophylaxis and the state of dentition of 8-year-old children. I. Body of knowledge in the field of children's oral hygiene and health habits].

AIM OF THE STUDY

Evaluation of prophylactic measures, preventing the development of caries in children.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study involved 50 pupils from a primary school in Zywiec in which is conducted a prophylactic programme by a local government "Prevention of caries in children and youth"--group P, and 51 pupils from village schools in which no such program--control group K. Prophylactic activities involved, among others, oral cavity checkup, instruction concerning hygiene, promotion of oral cavity health, sealing of I permanent molar teeth. In order to compare the effectiveness of prophylactic measures, all children answered the questions evaluating their knowledge and health awareness in terms of hygienic and nutritional habits and described their feelings during an appointment in dental surgery.

RESULTS

Group P children gave more correct answers to the question "When should you clean your teeth?" (p < 0.001) and "What do you associate the following words with: hairs, teeth, handle, scrubbing?" (p < 0.05) in comparison with group K children. Positive associations connected with the appointment in dental surgery were more frequent in group P than in K (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Children subjected to anticaries prophylaxis had a greater knowledge concerning oral cavity hygiene, more frequently had positive feelings about appointments in dental surgery.