OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of an oral health education programme for Chinese middle school student in the rural area to improve oral health knowledge.

METHODSThe students of two middle schools in the rural area of Deyang city, Sichuan province, were randomly choosed and divided into experiment group and control group, each group 200 students. The students of experiment group were taken oral health education based on school and brushed the teeth with fluoride toothpaste under the supervision of parents. No intervention study was given to the students of control group. Before the experiment and after 1 year, the caries and oral hygiene status were examined, and the oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior were investigated by questionnaire.

RESULTSThere were no significant changes of DMFT and DMFS of experiment group after 1 year (P > 0.05), while the DMFT and DMFS of control group increased obviously (P < 0.05). The oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S) of experiment group decreased (P < 0.05), while that of control group increased (P < 0.05). The knowledge and the attitude towards "using fluoride toothpaste was a good way for preventing tooth decay" and "eating and drinking sweet things can cause tooth decay", and the behavior of "brush the teeth 2 or more times a day", "use the toothpaste containing fluoride", "visit to dentist at least once a year" in experimental group were improved compared with control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONOral health education based on school combined the use of affordable fluoride toothpaste can improve the oral health of middle school student in the rural area.