Comparison of knowledge between Italian and Spanish parents about the oral health of their preschool children.

Abstract

To evaluate and compare baseline knowledge between Italian and Spanish parents with regards to the oral and dental health of their preschool children. Study design epidemiological descriptive observational cross-sectional study. The research data was collected through an anonymous bilingual survey, generated through Google Forms and distributed either in paper form or through several digital channels together with a QR code to drive the participants to the questionnaire. In order to assess the differences between Italy and Spain, t-Student (with confidence interval) or Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the independent numerical variables, and the Chi-Square test was used to compare the independent categorical variables. Independently of the differences identified among the two countries, the results show that parents from both nationalities have limited knowledge about their preschool children's oral health and are not fully informed about child's oral hygiene practices.