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Kim, Choi, and Han: Oral health educational contents in primary, middle, and high school textbooks
Original Article

J Korean Acad Oral Health 2014;38(1):59-67.

Published online: 12 March 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2014.38.1.59

Oral health educational contents in primary, middle, and high school textbooks

Jin-Seon Kim1, Eun-Mi Choi2, Gyeong Soon Han1, 3

1Department of Dental Hygiene, Graduate School of Public Health, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea

2Department of Dental Hygiene, Kyungdong University, Wonju, Korea

3Department of Dental Hygiene, Gachon University College of Health Science, Incheon, Korea

Corresponding Author: Gyeong Soon Han Department of Dental Hygiene, Collage of Health Science, Gachon University, 191 Hambakmoe-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 406-799, Korea Tel: +82-32-820-4372 Fax: +82-32-820-4370 E-mail: gshan@gachon.ac.kr

Received 20 January 2014       Revised 24 March 2014       Accepted 28 March 2014

Copyright © 2014 Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

This study was conducted in order to analyze oral health content and its importance in primary, middle, and high school textbooks.

Methods

A total of 1,176 textbooks was reviewed, and the items under investigation included: textbook division (national/authorized), titles; grade levels, semesters taught, inclusion of educational content for general and oral health, and the number of pages and rows containing the oral health information. The data were analyzed via paired t-tests, frequency analyses, and one-way ANOVAs.

Results

Oral health content was found in 12.1 percent of the primary school textbooks, 6.5% of the middle school texts, and 2.1% of the high school textbooks. The total average was 5.4%. Among the textbooks containing health (general and oral) content, the average number of pages (P<0.001) containing general and oral health information were 22.1 and 0.5, respectively. The average number of lines (P<0.001) for both types of health information were 475.1 and 6.2, respectively, in the primary school textbooks. Middle school textbooks included average numbers of health information-related pages (P<0.001) of 45.7 and 0.4 and average numbers of lines (P<0.001) of 1,086.9 and 5.3, respectively. The average number of pages (P<0.001) in the high school books containing general and oral health content were 83.0 and 0.9, respectively, and the average number of lines (P<0.001) were 2,128.6 and 10.7. Our research showed that, regarding the degree of reflecting oral health education objectives, high school textbooks gained 1.00 point (1 objective), middle school books obtained 0.67 point (5 objectives), and primary school books received 0.18 point (39 objectives; P<0.05).

Conclusions

Oral health content in textbooks decreased as school level increased. The objectives of oral health education for primary school were not properly reflected in the textbooks because the objectives were relatively diverse, and the textbook treatment of the material was rather static.

Keywords: Oral health education objectives, Oral health contents, Textbooks

References

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Table 1.
The status of investigated textbooks
Variables The number of textbooks N
National Authorized
Primary
1st grade 13 - 13
2nd grade 13 - 13
3rd grade 20* - 20
4th grade 21 - 21
5th grade 18‡ 21 39
6th grade 18 16 34
Subtotal 103 37 140
Middle
1st grade - 230 230
2nd grade - 143 143
3rd grade - 135 135
Common 1 43 44
Subtotal 1 551 552
High
Common 10 474 484
Subtotal 10 474 484
Total 114 1,062 1,176

*Art (common textbook for 3rd and 4th grade) counts toward 3rd grade.

† Social studies atlas (common textbook for 4th to 6th grade) counts toward 4th grade.

‡ Art (common textbook for 5th and 6th grade) counts toward 5th grade.

Table 2.
The status of textbooks containing general and oral health contents by subject
Variables Textbooks
Primary school - National
1st grade [1] Listening·Speaking·Writing●, Reading⊙ [2] Right Life⊙, Listening·Speaking·Writing○, Guidebook for Moral Life⊙, Life for Wisdom⊙, Reading⊙, Pleasant Life⊙
2nd grade [1] Reading⊙, Pleasant Life○ [2] Right Life○, Guidebook for Moral Life○, Reading●, Life for Wisdom○, Pleasant Life○
3rd grade [1] Reading○, Guidebook for Moral Life○ [2] Reading○, Morals○, Guidebook for Moral Life○, Listening·Speaking·Writing
○ [1·2] Physical Education⊙
4th grade [1] Morals○, Listening·Speaking·Writing○, Guidebook for Moral Life⊙, Experiment & Observation⊙, Science⊙ [2] Reading
○, Social Studies○, Inquiry of Social Studies○, Morals⊙ [1·2] Physical Education○
5th grade [1] Science○, Listening·Speaking·Writing○, Reading○, Experiment and Observation○
[2] Science○, Experiment and Observation○, Reading○ [1·2] Guidebook for Moral Life○
6th grade [1] Reading○, Social Studies○, Science●, Inquiry of Social Studies○ [2] Listening·Speaking·Writing⊙, Reading⊙ [1·2] Morals○
Primary school - Authorized
5th grade [1·2] Practical Arts○, Physical Education○
Middle school - Authorized
1st grade [1] Korean⊙, Korean in Practice⊙ [2] Korean○, Korean in Practice⊙ [1·2] Science○, Morals○, Technology·Home Economics⊙, Physical Education⊙
2nd grade [1] Korean○, Korean in Practice⊙ [2] Korean○, Korean in Practice○ [1·2] Morals○, Physical Education○, Technology·Home Economics○, Science⊙
3rd grade [1] Korean○, Korean in Practice○ [2] Korean⊙, Korean in Practice○
Common [1·2] Science○, Physical Education○ Health⊙
High school - National
Common Civics○
High school - Authorized
Common Home Economics Science○, Korean (vol.1)○, Korean (vol.2)○, Technology·Home Economics○, Physical Education○, Health⊙, Society and Culture○, Biology I⊙, Biology II○, Physical Education and Health○, Speech Education○

[1] first semester, [2] second semester, [1·2] first and second semester. ○ The textbooks containing general health contents only. ● The textbooks containing oral health contents only. ⊙ The textbooks containing both general and oral health contents.

Table 3.
The proportion of textbooks including general and oral health contents
Variables General health Oral health General and Oral health without General and Oral health Total N (%)
N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%)
Primary school
National 30 (21.4) 3 (2.1) 14 (10.0) 56 (40.0) 103 (73.6)
Authorized 23 (16.4) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 14 (10.0) 37 (26.4)
Subtotal 53 (37.9) 3 (2.1) 14 (10.0) 70 (50.0) 140 (100.0)
Middle school
National 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 1 (0.2) 1 (0.2)
Authorized 127 (23.0) 1 (0.2) 35 (6.3) 388 (70.3) 551 (99.8)
Subtotal 127 (23.0) 1 (0.2) 35 (6.3) 389 (70.5) 552 (100.0)
High school
National 1 (0.2) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 9 (1.9) 10 (2.1)
Authorized 30 (6.2) 0 (0.0) 10 (2.1) 434 (89.7) 474 (97.9)
Subtotal 31 (6.4) 0 (0.0) 10 (2.1) 443 (91.5) 484 (100.0)
Total
National 31 (2.6) 3 (0.3) 14 (1.2) 66 (5.6) 114 (9.7)
Authorized 180 (15.3) 1 (0.1) 45 (3.8) 836 (71.1) 1,062 (90.3)
Total 211 (17.9) 4 (0.4) 59 (5.0) 902 (76.7) 1,176 (100.0)

Values expressed Frequency (%).

Table 4.
The number of pages and rows of general and oral health contents among the textbooks containing health content
Variables N The number of pages The number of rows
Subtotal General health Oral health P Subtotal General health Oral health P
Mean±SD Mean±SD Mean±SD Mean±SD Mean±SD Mean±SD
Primary school
1st grade 8 136.3±52.6 8.9±8.5 2.3±1.9 0.049 2,725.0±1,051.4 157.0±183.6 22.8±17.6 0.067
2nd grade 7 111.1±25.3 9.3±8.6 0.4±0.8 0.042 2,243.6±539.9 163.0±176.2 6.0±15.0 0.064
3rd grade 7 146.1±40.0 24.6±56.7 0.7±1.9 0.293 3,613.1±914.2 624.6±1,536.8 18.7±49.5 0.323
4th grade 10 137.9±39.5 17.5±48.7 0.5±0.7 0.300 3,478.6±1,253.1 449.7±1,267.9 1.2±2.2 0.292
5th grade 20 151.1±30.3 27.4±42.8 0.0±0.0 0.010 3,781.8±1,036.4 563.8±848.8 0.0±0.0 0.008
6th grade 18 156.5±33.5 28.7±44.4 0.2±0.5 0.015 3,887.2±842.0 595.2±881.3 3.8±13.2 0.011
Subtotal 70 144.4±37.2 22.1±40.6 0.5±1.2 <0.001 3,474.1±1,085.4 475.1±917.0 6.2±19.3 <0.001
Middle school
1st grade 80 259.1±77.5 35.8±69.5 0.3±0.5 <0.001 6,537.8±2,028.0 861.8±1,744.7 1.6±4.9 <0.001
2nd grade 49 278.6±75.0 48.6±71.9 0.3±0.6 <0.001 7,102.7±2,043.3 1,131.8±1,837.8 3.6±8.3 <0.001
3rd grade 30 260.4±96.0 43.5±83.4 0.3±1.3 0.008 7,548.8±3,362.2 1,113.3±2,076.4 6.8±37.1 0.007
Common 4 230.5±8.9 226.0±8.9 4.5±1.3 <0.001 4,840.5±185.9 4,840.5±185.9 90.0±25.8 <0.001
Subtotal 163 264.5±79.7 45.7±77.4 0.4±1.0 <0.001 6,852.0±2,350.4 1,086.9±1,905.6 5.3±21.8 <0.001
High school
Common 41 282.2±37.8 83.0±114.9 0.9±1.9 <0.001 7,348.7±982.6 2,128.6±2,901.6 10.7±41.5 <0.001
Subtotal 41 282.2±37.8 83.0±114.9 0.9±1.9 <0.001 7,348.7±982.6 2,128.6±2,901.6 10.7±41.5 <0.001
Total 274 236.5±85.4 45.3±79.1 0.5±1.2 <0.001 6,063.4±2,460.9 1,086.5±1,964.7 6.4±25.1 <0.001

P-value obtained from the paired t-test.

Table 5.
The degree of reflecting the objectives of oral health education in the textbooks
Variables Reflecting the objectives of oral health education Mean±SD P
Primary school
1st grade toothbrush selection (×), toothbrush grasp (×), toothpaste selection (×), use of toothpaste (○), toothbrushing period (○), toothbrush keeping method (○), period of exchanging toothbrush (×), distinction of first permanent molar (×), rolling method (○) 0.44±0.53 0.047
2nd grade roles of teeth (chewing, pronunciation, aesthetics) (×), harmful food for teeth (×), beneficial food for teeth (×) 0.00±0.00
3rd grade list of the three oral diseases (dental caries, periodontal disease, malocclusion) (×), distinction of the three oral diseases (symptom) (×), rolling method (○), correct toothbrushing method (○), necessity of rolling method (×), distinction between cariogenic and clean food (×) 0.33±0.52
4th grade understanding of tooth anatomy (×), risk factor of dental caries (×), progress and result of dental caries (×), necessity of regular oral examination (×), list of methods for dental caries prevention 0.14±0.38
(toothbrushing, using fluoride, sealant, dietary control) (○), explanation of methods for dental caries prevention (×), explanation of fluoride mouth rinsing (×)
5th grade necessity of combined dental caries prevention (×), eruption time of permanent teeth (exchanging time of deciduous teeth) (×), risk factor of malocclusion (×), necessity of malocclusion preven-tion (×), list of methods for malocclusion prevention (×), explanation of methods for malocclusion prevention (×) 0.00±0.00
6th grade risk factor of periodontal disease (×), progress of periodontal disease (×), list of methods for periodontal disease prevention (×), explanation of methods for periodontal disease prevention (×), reason of tooth fracture (×), reason why we should go to dental office immediately in case of tooth fracture (×), coping ways of tooth avulsion (×), reason why we should use mouth guard during exercise (×) 0.00±0.00
Subtotal 0.18±0.39
Middle school
1st grade tooth anatomy, tooth development, roles of teeth etc. (○), effects of smoking on oral health (○) 1.00±0.00
2nd grade tooth anatomy, tooth development, roles of teeth etc. (○), effects of smoking on oral health (○) 1.00±0.00
3rd grade one's responsibility for oral health care (×) 0.00±0.00
Subtotal 0.67±0.58
High school
Common increase of caries susceptibility (○), awareness of developing periodontal disease (○), awareness of sociality in oral health care (e.g. water fluoridation) (○) 1.00±0.00
Subtotal 1.00±0.00
Total 0.39±0.45

○, included; ×, not included. P-value obtained from the one way ANOVA.

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