Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Sains Malaysia
MyJurnal

Abstract

Many studies have indicated that hearing-impaired (HI) children have poor oral hygiene mainly
contributed by difficulties in communication. The objectives of the study were to assess the difficulties
experienced by HI children during dental visit and the effectiveness of “Oral Health Care for the HearingImpaired”
(OCHI) programme in improving the oral health knowledge and practice, and reducing the dental
plaque maturity scores among HI children. A community intervention study was conducted and training of trainers
(TOT) was done to train the teachers in delivering oral health education (OHE) and practices by using developed
booklet and video. The difficulties faced by the HI children during dental visit, and the oral health knowledge and
practice (OHKP) were assessed by face-to-face interview with HI children whilst the dental plaque maturity was
assessed using GC Tri Plaque ID Gel™ (TPID) during pre-intervention, post-intervention-1 and postintervention-2.
Data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Among the teachers, there was an increase in the
mean (SD) total knowledge and attitude score during post-TOT compared to pre-TOT, 46.1 (2.44) and 43.7
(4.01); (p