Impact of Planned Health Education on Knowledge and Practices of Oral Hygiene among Children in Selected Primary Schools of Karad Taluka

Oral health is an important aspect of general health in infants and children and impacts the quality of life and health outcomes. In India, the prevalence of dental caries is Worldwide, 6090 % of school children and nearly 100 % of adults have dental cavities. The school based activities, regular oral health programs should be conducted in schools, to reach large number of children. At the school age, children are receptive to guidance and familiar with the learning environment and culture. Methodology -The study subjects comprised of school children studying in 3rd to 7th standard between 8-12 years of age in their schools of Karad Taluka included in the study. In the present study 14 Zilla Parishad schools in rural area were included. From all villages schools, all school children of age group of 8- 12 yrs studying in 3 rd to 7 th std. school were studied Which comprised of 1388 study subjects. RESULTSIn the present study total 14 schools from 12 villages that lie in radius of 10 km. from Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Deemed University, Karad were selected for the study. Total 1388 school children were participated in the study. Of these 705 (50.8 %) were male and 683 (49.2 %) were female. Maximum number of school children 174 (12.5 %) were from school of Wing, and very minimum 30 (2.2 %) were from school of Potale. School wise male female proportion revealed that high proportion of male and female school children were from Kapil (64.95) and Jakhinwadi (60.9 %), respectively. The difference in the proportion of males as well as of females in different schools was significant (Chi-square value = 22.573, p = 0.0471).