Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Three Oral Health Education Interventions in Maintaining Oral Hygiene of Cerebral Palsy Children

Introduction: Cerebral palsy [CP] is a group of neuromuscular disorders which affects the development of movement and posture, limiting normal functional activity. Thus, it is presumed to establish an early contact with CP children to diagnose oral diseases and to introduce certain preventive home care measures to maintain good oral health. This study was conducted to check the effectiveness of three different oral health education modalities among cerebral palsy patients.

Methodology: A cross-sectional interventional study was conducted among 60 Cerebral Palsy children aged 8 to 15 years from the selected residential schools for neurodevelopmental disabilities of Vadodara. Participants from a particular school were divided randomly into 3 groups based on different oral health education modalities. Group A: These children and their caretaker were given normal verbal instruction on how to brush their teeth by Fone’s technique on a one-to-one basis. Group B: These children and their caretaker were given a tooth brushing demonstration on a tooth model. Group C: These children and their caretaker were shown an audiovisual clip showing how to brush. The oral hygiene practice was reinforced every visit. OHI-S index was recorded on the day of the demonstration, 7 days and 14 days by the principal investigator, and analyzed.

Results: The audio-visual method group showed a marked reduction in the OHI-S score measured from baseline to day 14 when compared to the verbal and model group that is 1.76±0.96 when compared to other two groups that are group A with OHI-S score 2.36±0.96 and GROUP B with OHI-S score 2.51±0.87. The confidence of the interval was -CI=0.044-1.470. The results were the statistically significant result. (p value<0.035)Also, Group C showed a significant reduction in the DI scores as compared to the other two groups.

Conclusion: The audiovisual method with brushing video can be effectively used to maintain the good oral hygiene and gingival health of children with Cerebral Palsy. The audiovisual method helps to overcome their motor difficulties and their limited ability to perform dental plaque control.