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Aims: To compare the effectiveness of two oral exercise programs on oral function among independent elderly people. Materials and Methods: This was a cluster randomized controlled trial study conducted among 60--74 years old in Chonburi Province, Thailand. Participants in six senior schools were randomly allocated to one of two groups: the intervention group (n = 123) received a simple oral exercise program of 2 min/session (SOE) and the control group (n = 121) received a traditional oral exercise program of 15 min/session (TOE). They were required to practice twice daily. The baseline and 3-month follow-up oral function assessments included chewing ability, dry mouth status, Unstimulated Whole Saliva (UWS), dysphagia, and the Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST). Paired t test and independent t test were used to compare the outcome variables within and across the two groups, respectively. Results: At the 3-month follow-up, the SOE group significantly improved in chewing ability and UWS, whereas in the TOE group, there was a significant improvement in UWS and RSST. Comparing oral function mean differences between groups, RSST in the TOE group was significantly greater than in the SOE group (P < 0.05) but there were no differences in chewing ability, dry mouth status, UWS, or dysphagia. Conclusion: Both oral exercise programs were similarly beneficial in enhancing elderly oral function in terms of UWS. TOE outperformed SOE in terms of improving swallowing function. The other oral function had a chance to improve in both programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness in plaque removal and gingival improvement between the Modified Circular and the natural toothbrushing methods in 10- to 12-year-old children. Materials and Methods: A presented quasi-experimental study had a total of 124 fifth graders who were randomized into control and intervention groups. The examination used a structured questionnaire; gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and video recording were performed at baseline and follow-up. One oral examiner and one interviewer were blinded for the data collection. Both groups were trained to brush their teeth twice daily for 2 minutes. The intervention group was trained to brush using the Modified Circular and the control group was asked to brush using the same way they brush every day. The collected data were analyzed using demographic statistic, t-test and chi-squared test. Results: At baseline, no significant differences were observed in the mean PI and mean GI between the intervention group (PI = 2.37, standard deviation [SD] = 0.71; GI = 0.49, SD = 0.29) and the control group (PI = 2.26, SD = 0.64; GI = 0.52, SD = 0.29). At one-month follow-up, the intervention group had significantly lower mean PI (PI = 1.74, SD = 0.96) than the control group (PI = 2.30, SD = 1.18) (P < 0.004). The intervention group had a significantly lower mean GI (GI = 0.28, SD = 0.33) than the control group (GI = 0.51, SD = 0.40) (P < 0.002). Conclusion: The Modified Circular method can effectively remove plaque in 10- to 12-year-old children better than the natural toothbrushing method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is recommended that caregivers receive oral health education and in-person training to improve tooth brushing for young children. To strengthen oral health education before COVID-19, the 21-Day FunDee chatbot with in-person tooth brushing training for caregivers was employed. During the pandemic, however, practical experience was difficult to implement. Therefore, the 30-Day FunDee chatbot was created to extend the coverage of chatbots from 21 to 30 days by incorporating more videos on tooth brushing demonstrations and dialogue. This was a secondary data comparison of two chatbots in similar rural areas of Pattani province, Maikan district (Study I) and Maelan district (Study II).Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of two chatbots, 21-Day FunDee (Study I) and 30-Day FunDee (Study II), based on the protection-motivation theory (PMT). Furthermore, the study explored the feasibility of employing 30-Day FunDee chatbot to increase tooth brushing behaviors for caregivers in oral hygiene care for children aged 6-36 months without in-person training during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A pre-post design was used in both studies. The effectiveness of each chatbot was evaluated among caregivers in terms of oral hygiene practices, knowledge, and oral health care perceptions based on PMT. In Study I, participants received in-person training and a 21-day chatbot course during October 2018 to February 2019. In Study II, participants received only daily chatbot programming for 30 days during December 2021 to February 2022. Data was gathered at baseline of each study and at 30 and 60 days after the start of Study I and Study II, respectively. Only Study I evaluated the plaque score. Open-ended questions in chatbot programs were used to assess the usability of chatbots at the end of their interventions. Only Study II included an in-depth interview. The two studies were compared to determine the feasibility of using the 30-Day FunDee chatbot by an alternative method of in-person training.Results: There were 71 pairs of participants in total, 37 for Study I and 34 for Study II. Both chatbots significantly improved overall knowledge (P<.001; 0.73 (SD 0.21), 0.94 (SD 0.09)) (P=.001; 0.53 (SD 0.26), 0.66 (SD 0.23)), overall oral health care perceptions based on PMT P<.001; 0.58 (SD 0.19), 0.86 (SD 0.16), P<.001; 0.53 (SD 0.26), 0.83 (SD 0.12), and tooth brushing for children by caregivers (P=.02, P=.04) in Study I and Study II, respectively. Only Study I differed statistically significant for frequency of tooth brushing at least twice a day (P=.002) and perceived vulnerability (P=.003; 0.46 (SD 0.51), 0.78 (SD 0.42)). Overall chatbot satisfactions were reported at the highest level at 9.2 (SD 0.9) and 8.6 (SD 1.2) for Study I and Study II, respectively. In Study I, plaque levels differed significantly. (P<0.001; 0.48 (SD 0.33), 0.18 (SD 0.21).Conclusions: This was the first study using a chatbot in oral health education. Two chatbot programs established their effectiveness and usability in promoting oral hygiene care of caregivers for young children. The 30-Day FunDee chatbot showed the possibility to improve tooth brushing skills without requiring in-person training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE; The aim of this international study was to develop a valid and reliable psychometric measure to examine the extent to which parents' attitudes about engaging in twice-daily tooth brushing and controlling sugar snacking predict these respective behaviours in their children. A supplementary objective was to assess whether ethnic group, culture, level of deprivation or children's caries experience impact upon the relationships between oral health related behaviours, attitudes to these respective behaviours and to dental caries., Clinical Setting: Nurseries, health centres and dental clinics in 17 countries., Participants: 2822 children aged 3 to 4 years and their parents., Main Outcome Measures: Dental examination of children and questionnaire to parents., Results: Factor analysis identified 8 coherent attitudes towards toothbrushing, sugar snacking and childhood caries. Attitudes were significantly different in families from deprived and non-deprived backgrounds and in families of children with and without caries. Parents perception of their ability to control their children's toothbrushing and sugar snacking habits were the most significant predictor of whether or not favourable habits were reported. Some differences were found by site and ethnic group., Conclusions: This study supports the hypothesis that parental attitudes significantly impact on the establishment of habits favourable to oral health. An appreciation of the impact of cultural and ethnic diversity is important in understanding how parental attitudes to oral health vary. Further research should examine in a prospective intervention whether enhancing parenting skills is an effective route to preventing childhood caries.

Objective: To explore whether dentists' beliefs and attitudes to providing preventive and restorative dental care for young children can form a barrier to the provision of care., Basic Research Design: The Barriers to Childhood Caries Treatment (BaCCT) Questionnaire, a standardised international measure was developed and applied., Participants: Through a research consortium, each site was asked to recruit 100 dentists. The sample participating was not intended to be nationally representative. Dentists were mainly randomly selected and contacted by mail with one or more mailings depending on site., Results: 2,333 dentists in 14 countries and 17 sites participated. Factor analysis identified four factors as potential barriers. Two factors were found to be barriers in many sites. First, in most countries, dentists agreed that young children's coping skills limit their ability to accept dental care. Secondly, dentists with negative personal feelings, for example, that providing care can be stressful and troublesome and that they feel time constrained. Differences in dentists' beliefs can be partly explained by their work profile, with those treating children often, and those working under systems where they feel they can provide quality care being least likely to identify barriers to providing care for children., Conclusions: The BaCCT Questionnaire was determined to be a valid psychometric measure. Separately, it was found that health systems do impact on dentists' ability to deliver preventive and restorative care for children but that these effects vary across countries and further work is needed to determine how best these should be examined.