Community-based Oral Health Education Program in a Rural Population of Haryana: A 25 years Experience

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background An Indian Council of medical Research (ICMR) task force project was started in 1985 covering a population of 120,000 of Raipur Rani block of Haryana to study the feasibility of implementation of oral health promotion and prevention in the community and in the schools by utilizing existing manpower at different sectors. Objectives (i) To evaluate the long-term role of healthcare workers in imparting primary preventive strategies of oral health to adult community (ii) To study the knowledge, attitude and practice of the community regarding oral health. Methodology A total of 600 households (300 in experimental block and 300 in control block) were included by stratified random sampling method depending on the distance from Community Health centre of Raipur Rani to assess KAP and Caries activity among the population. Results The use of toothbrush as an oral hygiene method is being practiced by 96.6% of population in the experimental area compared to 84% in the control population where no oral health promotion activity was carried out. A great variation was seen in the frequency of its usage; 56% of the population in experimental area brushes twice per day compared to 7% of control area. According to the present data, 80% of the population in the experimental area is aware about the etiology, progress and consequences of gum diseases due to continuous oral health education delivered by the trained health staff during their routine beat program. In the control area where no oral health program was implemented, this knowledge was seen in 22 to 35% of the population. Conclusion In a developing country like India there is a pressing need of community-based oral health programs to reduce the burden of oral diseases, improve quality of life and reduce out of pocket expenditure incurring toward treatment of these diseases. How to cite this article Goyal A, Gauba K, Mohanty U, Tewari A. Community-based Oral Health Education Program in a Rural Population of Haryana: A 25 years Experience. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2015;49(3):101-104.