Knowledge, attitude, and practice about infant oral hygiene care among Indian professional working mothers: A questionnaire study

Abstract

Background: The knowledge of the parents toward the oral hygiene care might get affected by the family structure. Objective: Trend of capsular families in Urban India has led to change in infant oral health practices. Hence, the study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice about infant oral care among professional working mothers in Pune city, India. Methods: A 28-item semi-closed, closed-ended questionnaire was administered to 111 professional working mothers in Pune city, India. The data for demographic details, knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding infant oral care were collected with the help of this predesigned self-administered questionnaire from working professional mothers attending outpatient department of Pediatric Hospitals in Pune city. Results: An average, there was limited knowledge among mothers regarding oral health. However, only 13.5% mothers were aware about commercially available tooth wipes, 18% knew when the infant's first dental visit should be scheduled. About 22.5% had practice of bottlefeeding before nap time and 16.2% mothers added sugars/additives in milk while bottlefeeding. Conclusion: All the mothers had overall limited knowledge, positive attitude, and practices were inadequate about infant oral care.