Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Philippines

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of the Child-to-Child School Health Program (CtCSHP) on the oral health behavior

of Grade I pupils in the Division of La Union, Philippines within five months of implementation.

Methods: A randomized trial was applied to the subjects. First, an assessment of the oral health behavior of the pupils in terms

of toothbrushing and sodium fluoride mouth rinsing was conducted before the start of the study. The schools were randomly

distributed to either the test group or control group. The Child-to-Child School Health Program (CtCSHP), utilizing the “Little

Doctors’ Club,” and dental health education were provided to the test group, while only dental health education was provided

to the control group. Toothbrushing and mouth rinsing with sodium fluoride (hereafter simply “mouth rinsing”) were the

prevention methods used. Data was gathered using toothbrushing and mouth-rinsing cards. An assessment of the oral health

behavior and an analysis of the significant differences between the oral health behaviors of the test and control groups were

conducted after five months after the interventions. Eight public elementary schools were randomly chosen from the two

districts in the Division of La Union to comprise the test group (four schools) and the control group (four schools). A total of

353 Grade 1 pupils took part in the study: 178 pupils in the test group and 175 pupils in the control group. To establish whether

or not there is a significant difference between the oral health behaviors of the test and control groups, the data were entered in

a statistical tool pack and analyzed with a t-test.

Results: The oral health behavior of the test group in terms of toothbrushing and mouth rinsing improved during November

but deteriorated during December. Great progress was observed during the succeeding months from January to March. The

oral health behavior of the control group improved only during November, eventually declining from December to March.

Moreover, although there was no significant difference between the test and control groups in toothbrushing for November

(p=0.1018), a significant difference was noted from the months of January to March. Regarding mouth rinsing, it was found

that there was a significant difference between the test and control groups in all the months.

Dental and Oral Health