Oral Health Promotion Program for Rural School Children in al Qaa Lebanon

20/06/2011

The program was run in collaboration with INCO DEV EU Bedouin Health project team in Lebanon at the AmericanUniversity of Beirut as part of the pilot intervention programme of the project in Lebanon. It was held between October 10 -12, 2009.

The intervention took place in the remote area of al-Qaa around 10 kilometers (six miles) from Hermel near the border with Syria, in the Bekaa Valley. The program was targeted at the Al Dora Al Rasmia School; the fundamental aim of the project was to promote good oral health for pupils.

Participants
A total of 72 school children aged 6-13, and 36 nursery children aged 3-5 took part in the program. The project was supervised and carried out by a voluntary team of three Lebanese dentists working under the direction of a Sarab Hanoush, a specialist in Dental Public Health from the UK.

Objectives
The initial aims of the project were to enhance the knowledge of the causes of oral diseases, and the prevention of these. The project also hoped to promote positive healthy behaviors, and to develop personal oral hygiene skills among children.

The oral hygiene intervention program
The program comprised a one day orientation and two days of oral hygiene activities. The first day was spent visiting the school and identifying the facilities available for the dental intervention. Discussions with the school headmaster confirmed what facilities would be made available to the team on the following two days. The second day saw the dental intervention begin with an instructive session involving all the school children in attendance, where appropriate oral health educational materials such as macro models, leaflets and pictures were disseminated to pupils in order to teach them the value of having healthy teeth. Information was also given on how to prevent gum diseases and dental decay.

The second activity focused on training in oral hygiene practices. This was given to the children