Effectiveness of oral hygiene educational interventional programs on participants with Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate oral health - related knowledge, to compare the effectiveness of three different oral health education interventions (OHEI) on plaque removal in a cohort with Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHOD AND MATERIALS: The three-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial included 63 PD stage 1 and 2 patients aged ≥ 40 years and scores ≥26 in both Montreal Cognitive Assessment test and Mini-Mental State Exam. These patients were allocated to 3 OHEI groups - lectures, presentation, and demonstration. The validated questionnaire assessed knowledge level at baseline (0), 1; 2, and 3 months. Oral hygiene at 0 and 3 months was assessed by the Plaque index (PI) and the Patient Hygiene Performance Index (PHPI). UWS was collected to assess the salivary flow rate.

RESULTS: Pair-wise comparison using ANOVA showed a significant decrease in mean percentage knowledge 0, 1, 2 and 3 months in all 3 groups (P< 0.001). After Tukey's Post hoc analysis presentation group had significantly higher knowledge (P= 0.03).ANOVA showed that the percentage of knowledge decreased as time passed (P= 0.001). Comparison of means of PI and PHPI scores by MANOVA followed by Tukey's Post hoc analysis, showed significant decrease in PI scores from 0 to 3 months (P=0.001). No significant change in the UWS flow rate was noted.

CONCLUSION: Pictorial representation of OHEI is a better mode of intervention compared to lectures and demonstrations in PD stage 1 and 2 patients. In spite of the decline in knowledge with time, PI scores reduced significantly implying that this form OHEI offers positive benefits.