Introduction: Poor oral health conditions affect a large portion of the Brazilian population
and constitute an important public health problem. This situation becomes even more serious
in populations with less favorable social, economic and health conditions, such as the elderly.
Health education actions can benefit the oral health of the elderly. However, they are still
little explored. Objective: To evaluate the effects of health education actions on the oral
health of the elderly. Materials and Methods: The study design is quasi-experimental. The
sample consisted of 38 elderly people, 28 of whom were female and 10 were male.
Socioeconomic information was collected. To compare pre and post intervention, the
following procedures were performed; questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge about
oral health of the elderly, the clinical examinations of the CPOD index (decayed, missing and
filled teeth) and anamnesis to assess the situation of dental prostheses. The health education
actions were structured in four thematic workshops on oral health. The workshop
methodology was elaborated according to theorists of lifelong learning and health education
for the elderly. Results: The level of knowledge of the elderly improved significantly in the
themes, caries (p = <0.001), prevention (p = <0.001), gingivitis (p = <0.001), dental self-care
(p = <0.001) and dental prosthesis (p = <0.001), except for plaque. No statistically significant
differences were found for DMFT and its components and prosthetic condition of the elderly.
Conclusion: Health education actions have a beneficial effect on the level of knowledge of
the elderly, however, in this study, we did not find improvements in the DMFT and the
condition of the prostheses. Health education actions must be linked to oral health care
services for the elderly, to ensure an adequate and comprehensive oral condition. Larger
studies evaluating new approaches to health education, longer follow-up and other risk factors
in the elderly should be carried out.
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