EXPERIENCE IN CONDUCTING “DENTAL HEALTH LESSONS” AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Abstract

It is known that oral hygiene is one of the most accessible and effective means of preventing diseases of the oral cavity, one of the aspects of which is sanitary and educational work. With this in mind, a team of authors has developed, implemented and tested the regional program ‟Stomatological Health – for the Children of Lviv” at the Danylo Halytskyi Lviv National Medical University, the basis of which is the holding of ‟Stomatological Health Lessons” for different age groups of the population of Ukraine. In 2020, the name of the program was changed to: ‟Stomatological health – for the children of Ukraine”. In the years 2009–2023, many planned of ‟Stomatological Health Lessons” were held with the participation of dental students, interns, resident doctors and teachers of Stomatological Departments, etc. at Danylo Halytskyi National Medical University. The program pays special attention to children who find themselves in difficult life circumstances and their guardians: socially vulnerable, orphans, children deprived of parental care, children from disadvantaged and low-income families, children with special needs, large families, and today, children of military personnel, Heroes of Ukraine and children from internally displaced families, etc. During ‟Stomatological Health Lessons”, which are held according to the age category of the students and take place in the format of a lecture and a practical part, we teach the rules of daily hygiene and care of the oral cavity, practice manual skills on dummies, talk about bad habits and their impact on the human body, answer questions, and leave souvenirs-gifts for control and assimilation of knowledge and skills. Control of the effectiveness of the ‟Stomatological Health Lessons” is carried out with the help of passive research methods, namely, surveying the participants of the ‟Stomatological Health Lesson”, as well as educators, teachers of preschool and school educational institutions, and teachers of universities and other educational institutions. Thus, preservation of dental health and improvement of the hygienic condition of the oral cavity by conducting hygienic training and education of students is one of the leading directions of prevention of dental diseases. At that time, the optimal solution to the problem of hygienic education and upbringing is the holding of ‟Stomatological Health Lessons” among organized groups of the population and the publication of popular science literature adapted for different age audiences with different social status.