Asiri Faris Yahya I, Tennant Marc, Kruger Estie
Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
International Research Collaboration-Oral Health and Equity, School of Allied Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Int J Paediatr Dent. 2025 Mar;35(2):468-479. doi: 10.1111/ipd.13258. Epub 2024 Aug 6.
Dental caries is prevalent among children, including those with disabilities. Although the World Health Organization recommends school-based oral health promotion (OHP) programmes involving teachers, limited research has explored teachers' roles and perspectives.
To assess special education teachers' involvement and difficulties regarding oral health education (OHE), attitudes towards OHP and barriers to oral healthcare access for students with disabilities (SWDs).
This descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, involved 264 special education teachers using a validated, self-administered questionnaire, and descriptive and analytical statistics were used for data analysis.
Only 39% of teachers incorporated OHE into their teaching, and just 20.8% received training for OHE delivery. Teachers showed strong support for integrating OHE into the curriculum (84.1%) and a no-sugar policy (78%). There was, however, less support for school-based toothbrushing (39%). OHE barriers included insufficient resources (56.1%), limited knowledge (29.2%) and misconceptions about primary teeth removal (47.4%). The three most common barriers to oral healthcare access were extended waiting lists (75.0%), long waiting times (73.1%) and fear of dental equipment (67.4%).
This study highlights the need for collaboration between healthcare professionals, educators and parents to enhance OHE and reinforce OHP for SWDs within special education and beyond.
龋齿在儿童中很普遍,包括残疾儿童。尽管世界卫生组织建议开展由教师参与的基于学校的口腔健康促进(OHP)项目,但仅有有限的研究探讨了教师的角色和观点。
评估特殊教育教师在口腔健康教育(OHE)方面的参与情况和困难、对OHP的态度以及残疾学生(SWDs)获得口腔医疗服务的障碍。
这项描述性横断面研究在沙特阿拉伯的艾哈萨进行,264名特殊教育教师使用经过验证的自填式问卷参与调查,数据分析采用描述性和分析性统计方法。
只有39%的教师将OHE纳入教学,仅有20.8%的教师接受过OHE授课培训。教师对将OHE纳入课程(84.1%)和无糖政策(78%)表现出强烈支持。然而,对校内刷牙(39%)的支持较少。OHE的障碍包括资源不足(56.1%)、知识有限(29.2%)以及对乳牙拔除的误解(47.4%)。获得口腔医疗服务的三个最常见障碍是等候名单过长(75.0%)、等待时间过长(73.1%)以及对牙科设备的恐惧(67.4%)。
本研究强调医疗保健专业人员、教育工作者和家长之间需要开展合作,以加强特殊教育及其他领域针对残疾学生的OHE并强化OHP。