Juvenile diabetics' oral health and locus of control. A pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study program was to evaluate the effects of a one-year dental health education program on the oral health status and locus of control of juvenile diabetic children. Thirty subjects with juvenile diabetes mellitus were allocated to control and experimental treatment groups so that group frequencies (age, sex, race, duration of diabetes) were similar. Both groups had a Silness and Loe Plaque Index (PLI) and a Ramfjord Periodontal Disease Index (PDI) performed, and received an oral prophylaxis three times over the one-year period. Locus of control was measured at baseline and one year using the Children's Health Locus of Control Scale. In addition, the experimental group received an extensive dental health education program which emphasized the effects of dental disease on diabetes control. Twenty-five subjects completed the study. Pre- and post-locus of control measures were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Rank test. The Mann Whitney U Test was used to analyze differences between the groups. Indexes were compared using nonparametric two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance. Analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between groups or in locus of control scores over time. However, PDI and PLI scores improved in both groups, particularly from baseline to six months (p less than .01). Although not statistically significant, both groups exhibited a high internal locus of control. While the dental health education program resulted in only minor improvements in mean group scores, the intervention of preventive treatment produced significant improvement in measured indexes.