Natural peer group approach as a learning strategist for maximizing dental health education in school-age children

Aim: To find out a natural peer group approach toward the knowledge of the dental and oral fields effectively. Materials and Methods: This research is a quasi-experimental research with before-after study design. This study comprising 77 students for total sampling method was conducted on grade 4-5 students (aged 10-11 years). Data collection method used is by way of pretest and posttest for measuring data of oral and dental health knowledge. Sociometric questionnaire was administered to the students in order to identify the condition of the formation and reference character of natural peer group. The third data are the primary data obtained directly from the research respondents. The researcher provided dental and oral health intervention to the peer group reference before the peer group reference was allowed to mingle with peer group members without control and supervision during the effective 2x day school. The evaluation process was confirmed the shared information from the group leader with Oral Health questionnaire. This method conducted to find out the effectiveness of Oral Health Education counseling through Natural Peer Group teaching method. The data were analyzed by the comparative method using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 17.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). Results: There is an increase in grade averages in grade 4 (P = 0.783) members' score, and a decrease in grade 5A (P = 0.202) and 5B (P = 0.725) members' score. In both grade 4 and 5 leader students, all the posttest values increase, but only grade 5 has a significant difference (P = 0.047 an P = 0.006). Conclusion: Natural peer group learning is not suitable for dental health education counseling method.