Effects of Parental Oral Health knowledge on Early Childhood Caries and Oral Health Status of Children 3-5 Years of Age in Abbottabad

Abstract

Dental caries can spread rapidly in children and was given the term "Early Childhood Caries" (ECC) that was coined to describe "one or more carious, non-cavitated or cavitated tooth surfaces that are missing or filled due to caries on a deciduous tooth" in a child of 5 years and 9 months of age or younger. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a “complicated condition affecting the maxillary primary incisors which quickly propagate to other primary teeth about a month of eruption”. It is a serious issue of socio-behavior or dental health which strikes pre-schoolers across the globe. Objective: To determine effects of parental knowledge on their children's oral health practices and status. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out, with a total of 384 kids from Government and Private Schools of Abbottabad City. Oral hygiene of the children was assessed through dmft scores upon the request of school administration and parents. Structured oral health questionnaires were distributed by the instructors among the parents during parent-teacher conferences/ meetings that were held after every three months in a fiscal year of the school. Results: A total of 372 of the youngsters in the study have all their primary teeth erupted (98.7%). Three-year-olds make up 35.7% of the overall sample, while four-year-olds make up 23%, and five-year-olds make up 0.5% of the sample. One or more of the sample's 245 decaying teeth affects 40.5% of the total. Conclusions: Parental knowledge and practise of oral hygiene were found to be linked to their children's oral health in this study.