Oral health education in the health segment of the 7th National curriculum and Oral health awareness

학교교육과정 보건영역에서의 구강보건교육과 구강보건인지도

The purpose of this study was to examine the health segment of the 7th national physical education curriculum in an effort to grasp the state of oral health education in the school curriculum. And it's also meant to investigate the relationship between oral health education and the oral health awareness of some high schoolers to check into any possible problems with oral health education as part of health education. The subjects in this study were 240 students from two different girls' high schools in Seoul, on whom a survey was conducted to find out their oral health knowledge, behavior and awareness. And the health category of the current P.E. curriculum announced by the Ministry of Education was analyzed. The findings of the study were as follows: Oral health education provided by the high schools as part of health education in P.E. class wasn't linked to P.E. theories and practice. The weight of oral health education was extremely small in the health segment, and there was no sequence, continuity and integration among the content systems of oral health education for different grades. When some high schoolers were investigated, they weren't properly oral health conscious, though it was very important for students to receive oral health education to prevent and manage dental diseases. And they didn't consequently take care of their own oral health. Future research efforts should be channeled from diverse angles into developing oral health education curriculums to bolster school oral health education to improve national oral health.