An Evaluation of "school preventive actions in oral Health": the perceptions of adolescents from Embu, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The decline in tooth decay in the children of the State of São Paulo is explained by fluoridation of the water supply, the use of fluoridated toothpaste and access to collective actions promoting oral health, such as the "collective procedures" (CPs). CPs are educational and preventive annual programs developed in public schools by the Brazilian public health system. It is expected that the participants will acquire and maintain healthy oral hygiene practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate perception, knowledge and practices/behavior related to oral health, as well as the evaluation of the educational and preventive activities of 219 students of the 1st grade of high school in the city of Embu, São Paulo, in 2005. The first group of students had received the CPs in elementary public school from grades 1st to 4th; the second group had received them from grades 1st to 8th; and the third one had not received the CPs. The students were interviewed after consent had been obtained. Analyses were performed using the Chi-square test. No significant differences were found between groups. The majority of the students believe it is important to speak about oral health at school. The ones who had not participated in the CPs said that they had received some instructions at school, which strengthens the theory according to which oral health is influenced by other factors. In this study, children's participation in the CPs did not seem to have an impact on oral health care/practices in adolescence.