Evaluation of Two Different Approaches to Health Education (Tailored Leaflet vs Video) on Referral Compliance for Prosthetic Replacement of Missing Teeth Among the Patients at a University Dental Care Center.

Abstract

Purpose: To assess whether a health education video increased prosthodontic treatment demand for replacing missing teeth compared to a traditional health education (IEC) leaflet among patients visiting a university dental care center in Saudi Arabia.

Materials and methods: A nonrandomized educational intervention was conducted among patients with missing teeth. A total of 350 participants were divided equally into two health-education intervention groups: leaflet group and video group. Two major variants were ascertained: demand for prosthodontic dental care and awareness (knowledge) about the importance of replacing missing teeth. These two variants were studied for the difference in the scores between base line and at the end of the program (after 3 months). Bivariate analysis was done with chi-square test, McNemar chi-square test, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs tests, and finally binary logistic regression analysis was done.

Results: The final analysis included 324 participants. There was improvement in both knowledge and demand for prosthodontic care in both the groups after health education, but a statistically significant improvement in demand for dental care was observed in the video group compared to the leaflet group (42.9% vs 63.2%). Logistic regression analysis identified that missing teeth in the anterior region and being in the video group were two significant factors associated with increased demand for care.

Conclusions: The health education video method was found to be a more effective method compared to leaflets in improving knowledge and demand for replacing missing teeth.