The oral diseases are, by their high prevalence, one of the main health problems of children and youth. However, caries and periodontal diseases, if properly prevented and treated early, are of a high vulnerability, with reduced costs and health gains relevant.
In Portugal, the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth per child (DMFT) to 12 years of age is 2.95, and the percentage of children free of dental caries in 6 years is 33%. The World Health Organization indicates that by 2020 at least 80% of children under 6 years are free of caries, and 12 years, the DMFT does not exceed the value of 1.5. Achieving these goals is only possible by strengthening the promotion of health and prevention of oral diseases, which require greater involvement of health professionals and education.
Thus, oral hygiene must be addressed in connection with the acquisition of personal hygiene behavior and learning the knowledge must relate to the experiences within and outside of school.
The curriculum guidelines for pre-school advocate an educational intervention in the health education and hygiene are part of everyday life from preschool. Similarly, during compulsory education, references to the discovery of the body, health, education, food, hygiene and overall oral hygiene are integrated into the curriculum and the school curriculum from first to ninth grade education.
In this context it is recommended that all children attending the kindergartens and schools in the first cycle of basic education to make brushing teeth in the school, thus leading to the gradual empowerment of the child for self-care oral hygiene.
The implementation of brushing should be guided by teachers, who must be trained for this activity, and regularly, at least once every three months, supervised by the school health team.
This preventive measure should the first cycle of basic education, be complemented by fortnightly rinsing with a solution of sodium fluoride 0.2%. This activity when done in a continuous and fortnightly helps reduce tooth decay by about 26%.
Nutrition education is also a central thrust of a program to promote oral health, it is necessary to raise awareness of aspects of school life that affect the oral health of children, the quality of school meals and food available at the bar or vending machines, most of them high in sugar and therefore strongly cariogenic.
The adoption by educational institutions, brushing the teeth of the students at least once a day as a central factor for a program to promote oral health, you will probably find some resistance from the kindergarten teachers and teachers who should go for solving gradually and in accordance with the real difficulties encountered, which would normally hold at the lower house and the difficulty in monitoring all students brushing.
So it is important that the activities of health promotion are integradasno school's educational project, promoted by teachers, but since that includes the planning phase, other key partners to solve and obstacles to the sustainability of the project, including the Municipality whose action is role in solving problems related to the structure of the school building. Similarly, parents should be active partners in the planning of activities to participate in solving problems and are essential for there to be at home to strengthen the practice of brushing. Experience tells us that projects that were initiated without the involvement of the community, often fail to sustainability and continuity, with the passage of time. However, in projects where community participation is strong, the likelihood of these projects fall is less and efficiency is increased as they continued the activities, supporting the behavioral change and increased maintenance.
Ângela Meneses Alves
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