Vincent Nzabamwita

Health Communication and Dental Caries in Schoolchildren Vincent Nzabamwita

In this book, we will talk about health communication and tooth decay. The aim of health communication is not only to inform the public about what we do, but also to raise awareness, to make them more interested in the fight against diseases of all kinds and to encourage everyone to participate in their prevention. This is the case of schoolchildren suffering from dental caries. The WHO has only declared oral diseases such as tooth decay to be a health problem around the world. In the Mfou health district, the 2002 data from the hospital's consultation register show an increase of 247 new cases of dental caries compared to the year 2001, a percentage of 82.5%, with the share of children aged 6 to 15 years amounting to 17.33%. We will present the foundations and theories of health communication, identify the factors favouring dental caries and show children's behaviours while at school. However, these factors are not known by school children and sometimes by their parents, but the risk of caries is then higher.