Evaluation of two different approaches of health education (Tailored leaflet vs Video) on referral compliance for prosthetic replacement of missing teeth among the patients at a university dental care center.

BACKGROUND Prosthodontic replacement of missing teeth is necessary to maintain function, aesthetics and prevent further oral complications. OBJECTIVE To assess whether health education 'video' increased prosthodontics treatment demand for replacing missing teeth compared to traditional health education (IEC) 'leaflet' among patients visiting a university dental care centre, Saudi Arabia. METHODS A non-randomized educational intervention was conducted among the patients who had missing teeth. 350 participants were divided equally into two interventions groups- health education leaflet group and health education video group. Two major variants were ascertained; demand for prosthodontic dental care and awareness (knowledge) about importance of replacement of missing teeth. These two variants were studied for the difference in the scores between base line and at the end of the program i.e. after 3 months. Bivariate analysis was done with Chi square test, Mc Nemar Chi-square test and Wilcoxon matched-pairs tests and finally binary logistic regression analysis was done. RESULTS Final analysis included 324 participants. There was improvement in both knowledge and demand for prosthodontic care in both the groups after health education, but statistically significant improvement in demand for dental care was observed in the health education video group compared to leaflet group (42.9% vs 63.2%). Logistic regression analysis identified that having missing teeth in anterior region of jaw and being into video group were two significant factors associated with increased demand for care. CONCLUSION Health education video method was found to be effective method compared to leaflets in improving knowledge and demand for replacing missing teeth.