Comparative evaluation of verbal and verbal-written oral health education on the parents of early childhood caries patients undergoing general anesthesia

Improvement of oral health at the social level can only be possible with the implementation of preventive programs for society from childhood. In literature, it is stated that oral health is one of the most important components of health program. Oral and dental health education programs for parents are of great importance in improving the oral and dental health of children.The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of verbal and verbal-written education programs on parent's oral healthcare knowledge level and oral health behavior change. The study was designed as an experimental research with two groups. 90 children and parents were randomly divided into two groups as control and experimental groups. Parents in control group received only verbal education while parents in experimental group received both verbal and written. The study data were collected before and after education by recording the Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) values of the children and by applying a questionnaire to parents and analyzed by SPSS 24.0 package program. According to the study results, both verbal and verbal-written methods were effective in increasing the oral health knowledge levels of the parents, however, verbal-written education program was more effective. In addition, although there is no difference between them, both verbal and verbal-written methods were effective in changing the child's oral health behavior.