Oral Hygiene in a Sample of Children/Adolescents Living in Family-Homes from the Province of Milan (Italy): A Pilot Study.

Objective: This pilot study is a prospective controlled clinical trial, designed to evaluate the short-term clinical results (the plaque index) of an educational/motivational program for home oral hygiene, directed to children and adolescents who live in family-homes.

Methods: The setting of the project was the province of Milan (Italy), where two family-homes were selected. The study group included 26 children (16 females and 10 males) aged between 7 and 15 years, of Italian nationality, from the family-home communities. The control group included 26 children (15 females and 11 males, aged between 7 and 15 years) of Italian nationality, matched for age and gender distribution with the study group, that were not in a socially disadvantaged condition. Collection of the plaque index (PI) was performed at t0. Then, all basic oral hygiene instructions were given to all children/adolescents and their educators. Education and motivation were repeated in the same way after 4-7 weeks (T1), and after 10-12 weeks (T2). The PI was taken also at T1 and T2.

Results: An improvement in the PI was generally found in both groups, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups over time. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a statistically significant effect of time [F (1, 52) = 90.73, < 0.001], regardless of the assignment group, in consequence of which the plaque index presented a moderate and significant improvement.

Conclusion: The present data confirm the validity of the educational/motivational program to improve oral hygiene in children/adolescents, regardless of the assignment group.