Knowledge assessment of preschool oral health program in nursery schools, through a survey

Abstract

Objective: To design and determine an instrument that evaluates the knowledge of nursery educators regarding the oral health of children in Valparaíso.

Methods: Case series, cross-sectional study. A survey of 23 questions was conducted based on the contents of the “Oral health promotion and prevention program for preschool children of MINSAL 2007” applied to 244 nursery schools.

Results: The survey presented a Cronbach Alpha of 0.84. A 3.5 grade point average (95% CI: 3.4-3.6) was obtained according to the scale from 1 to 7, which represents the level of knowledge of nursery schools, where the best qualified area was Nutrition.

Conclusions: Nursery schools have poor knowledge in relation to oral health program of preschool children, so training in relation to this topic is necessary.