Dental health education

 Lecture
 By
 Prof. dr. Hamida Abobakr Adel
 4 /5 /2021

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Planning of dental health education
program
(1) collecting information essential for planning :
1. Vital and social statistics for dental disease .
2. priorities given to dental problems in health
program at all levels .
3. present and potential dental health services and
facilities .

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 4.Information about the people to be reached , their
understanding about dental health ,their level of
interest in doing something about the problem ,
their customs, beliefs , taboos, habits.
5.Channels of communication among the people :how
they get dental information and whom they believe.

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 6.Possible conflict with other programs currently
operating in the area, including attitudes of people
towards these programs .

7.Segments of the population that need to take action.

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 (2) Establishing dental health education
objectives :
1. actions desired of the people as individuals ,
families, or community groups.
2.specific beliefs affecting dental health that will
need to be changed.
3. specific information the public will need in order
to take the desired actions.

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 (3) Assessing the barriers to dental health
education and ways of overcoming them :
1. other interests of higher priority than dental
health.
2. Communication barriers , such as language
differences and literacy levels.
3. Geographical isolation , e.g. people living far
from sources of dental care.

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 4.Capacity and economic ability of people to take
the necessary dental health actions , such as the
purchasing of necessary foods , toothbrushes, and
dentifrices , and to obtain dental treatment
services.
5.Community attitudes towards dental programs,
such as fluoridation of community water supplies.
6. Attitudes towards the providers of dental care
services and of education.

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 (4) Appraising apparent and potential resources :
1. organizations:
(a) Health departments and other governmental
agencies .
(b) Voluntary health agencies.
(c) Professional dental international, national and local.
(d) Other related professional organizations ,e.g.
medical, nursing, and health associations, and
educational societies .
(e) Civic groups , occupational groups, and trade unions.
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 2. people:
(a) The general public , who should be involved in
planning and implementing the program.
(b) Persons whose views influence community attitudes,
e. g. school- teachers, community leaders.
(c) Health personnel who will provide the dental
services.

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 3.Material and equipment for the educational
components of the program:
(a) Mass informational resources, e.g. newspaper, radio,
and television and the proportion of the population
reached through these.
(b) Educational aids, e.g. pamphlets, posters, films,
slides, flannel-graphs.
(c) Supplies and equipment, e.g. transport and
projection equipment.

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 4.Funds :
(a) Amount available from official agencies.
(b) Amount available from professional and voluntary
organizations.
(c) Amount available from industries with a basic
interest in dental health.

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 (5) Developing the detailed plan of operations,
including evaluation :
The plan will encompass decisions on such questions as :
1-What are individuals and groups should be brought
into the planning of the dental health program.

2. What methods will be used to involve these groups in

the planning.

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 3.What specific information will the target groups need
to carry out the desired actions.
4. What methods will be used to secure the participation
and co-operation of the public: community self-help
projects, home visits by health workers,
individual contacts, group discussions.

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 5. What educational aids are needed.
6. How can all the educational resources be used in
a coordinated way, keeping in mind the necessary
multidisciplinary character of the planning groups.
7.What priorities will be given to various aspects of the
educational effort, will major emphasis be given to
school dental program, private dental care activities,
public health clinics, adult groups, hospital patients,
industrial workers.

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 9. When and where will the educational program be
initiated , taking into account all other community
activities and programs.
10. How will the educational program be involved.
(a)What types of evidence will be used to measure
program effectiveness.
(b)What baseline data will be established.
( c )How will the data be analyzed and interpreted.
What types of controls will be used to relate behavioral
changes to the educational effort.

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 Once the objectives defined, criteria and techniques for
measuring achievements decided upon , an adequate
base-line established, and the methods selected and
pre-tested, the dental health education program can
be initiated, evaluation of the program at periodic
intervals to reveal progress or not . Steps can be taken
to re plan the program, adopt new procedures and
improve the effectiveness of the educational effort
Through continuous revision can the goals of dental
health education of the public be most effectively
realized.

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