Oral Health Educational Program on Oral Hygiene Knowledge and Practices in a Group of Orphan Children

Completed

• Conditions: Dental Caries; Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

• Registration Number: NCT06897956
• Lead Sponsor: Cairo University

Brief Summary

An orphan is defined as "a child under the age of 18 whose mother, father, both parents, and a primary caregiver has died, and who is in need of care or protection". Orphans, therefore, are considered disadvantaged and socially marginalized population whom diseases burden is high. Egypt has 1.7 million orphaned children. The number of children between the age of 0 and 17 who are currently registered in orphanages is 12,015. Dental diseases especially plaque, gingival and dental caries are highly preventable, with the highest prevalence in the developing countries. Profound disparities exist in oral health status across different social and economic divisions. The pattern of orphanage living is quite different from family living as the latter provides physical security, food, and shelter but is devoid of psychological security. High prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and dental trauma has been observed in children of orphanages. This has been attributed to many factors such as: lack of adequate staff, poor oral hygiene, improper nutrition and eating patterns, high consumption of sugary food, negligence of tooth brushing, moreover the children and caregivers knowledge, level of education and oral health illiteracy. Untreated oral diseases could lead to psychological and general health problems, pain and loss in school time. Recognition of these problems is essential to provide optimum oral health for these deprived children. Health education is an important tool of public health and an effective primary preventive method especially for school aged children in controlling plaque, gingival and dental diseases.

Detailed Description

The aim of this study is to raise more awareness about the causes of dental diseases (plaque, gingival and dental caries and their prevention through implementing an educational program to the orphan children focusing on tooth brushing, proper use of fluoride products and proper nutrition. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the impact of the oral health education program on the Knowledge and practices of the orphans and also its effect on the gingival health and dental caries among the children in different branches of orphanages in Egypt.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-08-16
• Primary Completion: 2022-10-20
• Study Completion: 2023-01-15
• Study First Submitted: 2025-02-13
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-03-20
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-20
• Study First Posted: 2025-03-27
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-27

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 139

Inclusion Criteria

• Orphan Children aged 7 years old and above.
• Educated children.
• No learning difficulty.
• No medical conditions.

Exclusion Criteria

• Any child that refuses to participate

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Oral hygiene knowledge, and practices of the orphan children	Before the educational program and after 2 months	Questionnaire including 20 questions about the oral hygiene knowledge and practices of the children. This questionnaire was used before the educational program and after 2 months from the program

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Dental Caries experience for permanent dentition	Before the educational program and after 2 months	DMF index for permanent teeth
Dental Caries experience for mixed dentition	Before the educational program and after 2 months	Both dental caries indices (DMF and def) are used to provide the caries experience of each participant, they are not added together and reported separately as mixed dentition has both primary and permanent teeth, so we need to record primary teeth with def and permanent teeth with DMF
Oral hygiene	Before the educational program and after 2 months	Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified which is assessed through scores from 0-3

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University; 🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt