About Oral Hygiene in Children - an exploratory study

We developed an applied research project on oral hygiene in children between the ages of 4 and 5 years old during the 2nd Supplementary Training Course in Nursing at ERISA. This research is characterized as a descriptive, transversal and quantitative exploratory study, and was applied to 25 children attending the last year of early childhood education during the 2008/2009 academic year in a private school in Oeiras municipality. This study allowed us to identify these children's oral hygiene habits as well as the training and support given by their parents and the School in this area as well. We concluded that there were several gaps in the habits and student´s awareness regarding oral hygiene. We also determined that these gaps could not be solved simply by training programs exclusively geared to children, therefore making it also necessary to involve the school community including the student's parents. Thus, in order to accomplish this mission, we planned and implemented a series of activities that were addressed to the parents, the children and, indirectly, to the school