Comparing the effect of online oral health education to conventional method on knowledge and practice of personal oral hygiene in a group of primary school children in Egypt. A randomized controlled trial

Alaa, Omar; Badran, Amira Saad; Mohammed Ali Khattab, Nagwa

doi:10.21608/asdj.2024.312977.1448

Comparing the effect of online oral health education to conventional method on knowledge and practice of personal oral hygiene in a group of primary school children in Egypt. A randomized controlled trial

Document Type : Consort randomized clinical trials (RCT)

Authors

¹ Pediatric and dental public health department, faculty of dentistry, Ain-shams university.

² Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health Departement, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University

³ Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/asdj.2024.312977.1448

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to compare the effect of online oral health education (OHE) to the face-to-‎face OHE method on oral health knowledge and oral hygiene self-reported practice of ‎school children.‎
Materials and methods: Using a randomized controlled trial design, 624 students from ‎two national private schools in Egypt were included in the study. They were equally ‎allocated to both study groups. The first group received online oral health education and the ‎second group received face-to-face oral health education sessions and data was collected ‎using a validated modified questionnaire. Knowledge and practice levels were scored and ‎compared on pre- and post-intervention levels. Categorical data was analyzed using Chi-‎square test, while ordinal data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test.‎
Results: Face-to-face oral health sessions showed statistically significant improved results ‎regarding the knowledge and practice levels of primary school children in comparison to the ‎online oral health education session. The regression analysis model showed that participants ‎receiving online oral health education had significantly higher odds of having insufficient ‎knowledge in comparison to the face-to-face method (p<0.001), regardless of gender and ‎school stage (p>0.05).‎
Conclusion: Face-to-face oral health education is a more effective method in improving ‎oral health knowledge and practice in comparison to the Online method, which calls for ‎further exploration of online health education methods.

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