Cognitive comprehension of dental health education using a busy book "Ayo Sikat Gigi" in down syndrome children

Children with Down Syndrome are developmentally delayed, particularly in cognitive ability and fine motor skills, and this affects oral health care comprehension. The educational toy busy book, Ayo Sikat Gigi, can be used as a special approach to educate them regarding the oral health care. We evaluated the cognitive comprehension scores of dental health education using this busy book. This experimental clinical study included 25 Down Syndrome children (17 males, 8 females; age 7-12 years) from special primary schools in Jakarta. This age range was chosen after adjustment of mental age of children without Down Syndrome. The scores before and after dental health education using the busy book, Ayo Sikat Gigi, were analyzed and their differences measured. Scores were obtained from the objective test from the busy book, which is a picture-matching test on dental health education that is obtained from the book contents. The scores after dental health education using the busy book were higher than the pretest scores, and this difference was statistically significant (P <.05). The educational toy busy book, Ayo Sikat Gigi, appears to be an effective learning tool for dental health education in Down Syndrome children.