Oral health promotion in schools
integrative review with experience report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35699/2178-1990.2025.57294Keywords:
Oral hygiene, Health Promotion, SchoolsAbstract
Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore and assess what is known about oral health promotion in primary schools, as well as provide scientific knowledge to guide future interventions for two-year-old children.
Methods: The electronic database search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar as a grey literature. There was no limitation on publication year or language. Two reviewers independently and blinded selected the studies and extracted the data. Also, an experience report conducted in a school located at an inner city of southeast of Brazil was performed as part of curricular component of the undergraduate dentistry course.
Results: From the 1,309 potentially eligible articles, 30 were selected for full-text analysis and 11 included in the integrative review. Several oral health interventions were described in the literature such as playful techniques with drawings, puppet theaters and gamifications approach, assisted and instructed toothbrushing, lectures, audiovisual aids, booklets.
Conclusion: Evidence suggests that school is a suitable place to implement activities to improve the oral health knowledge. However, additional studies are required to determine the appropriate efficacy of interventions for each age group.
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