Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Blind children tend to have poor oral health. Oral health education is needed to reduce the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal diseases among blind children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two tooth brushing exercise methods toward blind children's knowledge, attitude, behavior, and oral hygiene. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The purposive sampling technique was used in this study on 80 blind children aged between 7 and 16. Children were divided into two groups of 40 children each. In group I, children received the tooth-brushing exercise through the Braille-verbal method, and group II received the tactile-verbal method. Their knowledge, behavior, and attitude were recorded by a questionnaire, and their oral hygiene was assessed during a personal oral examination. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney non-parametric test. RESULTS: Differences in effectiveness toward knowledge, attitude, and oral hygiene were found between both methods with the following values: p-value = 0.04 (<0.05), 0.04 (<0.05), and 0.0002 (<0.05). No difference in effectiveness toward behavior was found: p-value 0.30 (>0.05). CONCLUSION: The two tooth-brushing methods could change knowledge, attitude, and oral hygiene in blind children. The tactile-verbal method was more effective than the Braille-verbal method in changing blind children's oral hygiene.