Parental knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding oral health of their children in nuh district of Haryana, India

Abstract

Background: During the early days a child's development and oral health habits are predisposed and shaped by parents. For the betterment of the oral health of their children, parents should have a positive attitude toward oral health. To evaluate parent's knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward oral health of their children a study was conducted. Materials and Methods: Parents of 340 children who visited the Department of Dentistry, Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College Nuh, Haryana, were included in this cross-sectional study. A self-validated questionnaire containing two parts was delivered on a face-to-face interview basis. The first part involved demographic data of parents and the second part had 15 multiple-choice questions related to knowledge, attitude, and practices toward dental health of their children. Results: The results revealed the majority of the parents (50%) were not aware of the importance of primary dentition. The first dental visit was planned after the history of pain or swelling in the child's mouth by most of the respondents. Regular and supervised brushing was ignored by 79.9% of the caretakers. Conclusion: In the present study, it was concluded that there is a little level of awareness regarding knowledge, attitude, and practices among parents toward the oral health of children. It is thus suggested to educate the parents on the significance of oral health and periodic dental check-ups.