Abstract
Objective: To assess the knowledge level of parents from the central region of Saudi Arabia about oral health and care of preschool children and its relation with sociodemographic variables, parents’ self-perception toward their dental health, importance of teeth, and frequency of dental visits. Material and Methods: A random sample of 754 parents participated in this cross-sectional study and completed an internationally accepted questionnaire. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data (p<0.05). Results: Mean knowledge score of the parents was 4.8 (out of 11). Less than 20% of the parents were knowledgeable about the best position for tooth brushing, the concentration of fluoride in a child’s toothpaste, timing of first dental check-up, and best time to give a sugary snack. Mothers, parents with high educational level and family income, parents with a positive attitude towards teeth and excellent self-perception of their dental health were significantly more likely to score higher (p<0.05). Conclusion: Knowledge of parents about oral health and care of preschool children in the central region of Saudi Arabia was deficient. Gender, education level of parents, family income, attitude about teeth and self-perception of parents’ own dental health were factors, which influenced their knowledge. To improve parents' knowledge, health professionals' role should be improved, and TV commercials directed toward the areas, which had gaps in knowledge.
Highlights
Childhood caries (ECC) is a chronic transmissible infectious disease and multifactorial in nature.According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), Early childhood caries (ECC) is defined as the presence of one or more decayed, missing, or filled tooth surface in any primary tooth in a child 6 years old or younger
Deficiencies in the knowledge of parents were noticed in the questions which covered issues related to oral hygiene practices as well as the questions about timing of first dental check-up and best time to give a child a sugary snack
Role of the media can be enhanced to convey the message in an everyday basis to a huge audience; for example, TV commercials for toothpaste can include some information about the fluoride concentration and how to perform tooth brushing, as a demonstration, for a preschool child, as it is relatively difficult to expect parents to read that from tubes of toothpaste or to digest the information presented on dental health leaflets to improve their knowledge [25]
Summary
According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), ECC is defined as the presence of one or more decayed, missing (due to caries), or filled tooth surface in any primary tooth in a child 6 years old or younger. At a very young age (three years of age and younger), any sign of smooth-surface caries constitutes severe ECC [1]. ECC can progress rapidly, causing pain and dental infection with a major impact on the quality of life and the ability to function in affected children [2,3,4,5,6]. Health care costs will increase as dental treatment under general anesthesia may become required among the severe untreated cases and uncooperative children. Several studies have evaluated and categorized the risk factors of ECC, such as sociodemographic factors, dietary factors, oral hygiene factors, and factors related to oral bacterial flora as well as breast and bottle feeding [7]
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