Oral Health Promotion Through Health Promoting Schools: A Scoping Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The promotion of oral health in schools regarded particularly valuable through being included in the overall health initiatives, and by the linkage of oral health with general health care and with incorporating the recommendations of oral health professionals, policymakers will focus on the value of maintaining oral health for children in school (Kwan et al., 2005). However, many reports have concentrated on evaluating the efficacy of health-promoting schools’ systems of young children’s well-being in general, however, there is very limited evidence of its effects on their oral health. Thus, this scoping review aimed to explore the existing studies concerning about oral health promotion in the context of health-promotion schools. Method: This scoping study was carried out by using the scoping review methodology that explained by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and reformed by Levac and co-workers (2010). The search was performed in the four electronic databases; then, the available papers regarding promoting oral health through health-promoting schools was checked. Results: This review involved ten studies. These articles were summarized to one theme: The efficacy of the oral health promotion within the fields of health promoting-school. In this subject, the included studies describe the different viewpoints, such as the incorporation of legislation, oral health education, the opportunities and challenges for oral health promotion by school health promotion. Conclusion: This scoping review indicates that promoting health in school settings has a beneficial effect on the oral health of schoolchildren and on their understanding of oral health information and skills.