Parental knowledge and attitudes towards pit and fissure sealants

Abstract

No survey of public knowledge and attitudes towards pit and fissure sealants has been carried out in Australia. This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of parents of Melbourne school children attending five dental treatment centres, regarding sealants. Of 554 parents surveyed by questionnaire, 487 (88 per cent) provided codable responses which were analysed by the log-likelihood ratio statistic and three-way hierarchical log-linear regression models. A total of 57.5 per cent respondents had heard of sealants; 46.4 per cent knew sealants prevent dental caries, and 45 per cent rated sealants important in caries prevention. Respondents attending private dentists or the Dental Therapy School were more knowledgeable about sealants than those attending other centres. Sealant awareness was related significantly to gender (p < 0.05), country of origin (p < 0.05), family income (p < 0.05), and frequency of dental visits of children (p < 0.001); the apparent association with country of origin, and annual family income, was explained by interactions between these variables and treatment centres. Dentists were the main source of dental health information including sealant awareness (p < 0.001). The most significant factors in sealant awareness were previous discussion of caries prevention by respondents with dentists; dentists as the main source of dental health information; and frequency of dental visits by the child(ren). These three factors confirm the importance of dentist-patient interactions in disseminating oral health information.