Infant Oral Health Research Articles

Assessment of Mother’s Knowledge about Infant Oral Health Care, Oral Health Status and its Impact on Child’s Oral Health: A Cross Sectional Study

Assessment of Mother’s Knowledge about Infant Oral Health Care, Oral Health Status and its Impact on Child’s Oral Health: A Cross Sectional Study

Knowledge and Attitude about Infant Oral Health: A Paradox among Pregnant Women

To assess the knowledge and attitude of pregnant women about infant oral healthcare. A cross-sectional questionnaire study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 350 primigravida women aged between 20 and 40 years visiting the DY Patil Medical Hospital for their antenatal examination. A multiple-choice questionnaire with 12 questions in addition to demographic information and socioeconomic status was designed in three languages. Based on the level of education of the pregnant women, there was a statistically significant difference in knowledge and attitude toward infant oral healthcare (p = 0.001). The occupational status resounded significant differences between employed vs housewives and unemployed women (p = 0.000). Socioeconomic status also showed significant differences between the upper strata and lower strata groups (p = 0.000). Data normality was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Shapiro-Wilk test. Since the data were not normally distributed, we used nonparametric tests for analysis. The total scores for different domains were compared between the different subgroups based on age, occupation, education, trimester, and socioeconomic status using nonparametric one-way ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis test). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons were done using Bonferroni's method. All testing was done using two-sided tests with alpha = 0.05 (95% confidence level). This study gives us an insight into the inadequacies existing in our society amongst expectant women in relation to oral health-promoting factors for infants. Educating pregnant women about maintaining their own oral health and care for their offspring will potentially help to curb early childhood dental diseases in future generations.

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS ABOUT RISK FACTORS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARIES AMONG MOTHERS OF SHIMLA DISTRICT, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA - A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: Among all the oral diseases, dental caries is the most common chronic disease affecting the children. Early childhood caries is one of the most severe forms of dental caries affecting the children less than 3 years. Though dental caries is preventable, not much importance has been given to the preventive aspect of dental caries. This is because of the lack of oral health education. Vertical colonization occurs from caregiver usually mother to the child. Since mother play an important role in a child's life, their knowledge about child's oral health will have a signicant impact on the child's oral health status. A proper knowledge for the mothers regarding infant's oral health care will be benecial in reducing the burden of dental caries in children. Hence a study was conducted to assess mother's knowledge and awareness about infant oral hygiene, problem of dental caries and teething among mothers of 0-5years old children living in Himachal Pradesh. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers with a child aged 0 to 5 years of age visiting Department of Pediatrics and Preventive Dentistry. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising three parts, 1st one pertaining to socio-demographic data, 2nd related to feeding practices and 3rd one includes knowledge and awareness. Statistical analysis used: The collected data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using the chi-squared test and p values ≤ .05 indicated statistically signicant differences. Results: A total of 98.1% of the mothers were not aware of the rst dental visit. 95.81 % mothers did not agree that night time bottle feeding causes dental caries and 4.18 % disagreed that nocturnal breastfeeding can cause dental caries in children. A total of 0.9% mothers feel dental check-up is not necessary when the rst tooth erupt, and 57.7% of mothers started using toothbrush and paste after all the primary teeth erupted. Conclusions: Many of the socio-demographic and feeding factors were signicantly associated with ECC. It would be appropriate to plan health education strategies for parents and care takers by inculcating socio-demographic factors. The mother needs to be educated about oral health during their antenatal checkup.

Improving Oral Health and Overall Health for Pregnant People and Infants

Background: This article describes the Perinatal and Infant Oral Health Quality Improvement (PIOHQI) initiative, launched to improve integration of preventive oral health care into primary care for pregnant people and infants.Case description: Pregnancy is characterized by physiological changes that may adversely affect oral health and increase the risk for oral diseases. Hormonal and immunologic changes make pregnant people susceptible to oral health problems, which can have implications for infant oral health. The PIOHQI initiative worked to improve integration of preventive oral health care into primary care for pregnant people and infants.Practical implications: Project findings provide promising evidence for efficacy of PIOHQI interventions.

Attitudes and knowledge of pregnant women about oral health.

BACKGROUND:This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate attitudes and knowledge regarding oral health and infant oral health among pregnant women.MATERIALS AND METHODS:The study involved 325 pregnant women in the Republic of Croatia who completed an anonymous online questionnaire (Google forms) from January to June 2019. The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part contained questions about the demographic data experience about oral health in pregnancy. The second part was related to the knowledge of the relationship between oral health and pregnancy. The third section consisted of questions related to knowledge about the oral health of children at the earliest age. The results were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation analysis, and Chi-square test.RESULTS:The women are mostly informed about oral health in pregnancy from their dentists (53.54%) and least from their general doctors (4%). In pregnancy, gingival bleeding was observed by 52.31% of respondents and tooth mobility by 12.31%. The Chi-square test found that there was a difference in attitude regarding the age at which they should stop breastfeeding between respondents who had their first pregnancy and those who already had children. Only 9.23% of respondents are aware that breastfeeding can cause tooth decay.CONCLUSION:Pregnant women in the Republic of Croatia do not have sufficient knowledge, and they are neither aware of the importance of oral health during pregnancy nor infant oral health.

Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women about infant oral health and their oral hygiene

Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women about infant oral health and their oral hygiene

Knowledge, Attitude of Mothers towards Infant Oral Healthcare in Baghdad City/ Al-Karkh

Background: Oral health is a key pointer of overall health, and quality of life, most oral health problems arepreventable. Mothers, significantly impact their infant’s oral health and play a vital role in prevention of dentalcaries among their children.Aim of the Study: To evaluate knowledge, attitude of mothers towards infant oral healthcare in Baghdad city /Al-Karkh.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among convenient sample of 300 mothers with achild aged less than one year who were attending the primary healthcare centers in Baghdad city/ Al-Karkh. Datawere collected using a self-administered questionnaire composed of questions regarding knowledge, attitudeof mothers toward infant oral healthcare. The data analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)version 25.Results: In this study, 88 (29.3%) of participant mothers had good knowledge, which was significantly higheramong the participant mothers aged ≥ 35 years (42.9%), live in urban areas (40.6%), highly educated (54.1%),employed (45.5%), had ≥ 3 children (41.3%), and mothers whose child aged ≥ 6 months (34.2%).166 (55.3%)ofmothers had good attitudes, which was significantly higher among the participant mothers aged between (30 – 34)years (83.3%), live in the urban areas (69.8), highly educated (91.8%), employed (81.8%,), had ≥3 children (65.1%),and mothers who had child aged ≥6 months (64.9%).Conclusions: Mothers had fair knowledge, good attitude toward infant oral healthcare. Pediatric dentists andany health care professionals like pediatricians and family physicians who care for infant need to be trained todisseminate appropriate infant oral health care information and in the prevention of early childhood caries.

Infant oral health care in pediatric intensive care unit: Need for capacity building

Oral health care is very important for the overall health of infants. To minimize the risk of infection, the development of healthy and strong teeth is the major benefit to take care of the oral cavity. Infants admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are most of the time either intubated or on ventilators and are subsequently at a higher risk of the development of nosocomial infections. The researcher’s highlighted that there is consistent negligence of infant’s oral health while their PICU stay. This article explores that there is a strong need for standardized oral hygiene practices and guidelines use to be followed in PICU. Pediatric nursing professionals and health-care providers should be educated and encouraged regarding the life-long importance of good oral health care for infants.

Oral health-related knowledge and practices among a cohort of pregnant Portuguese women

Objectives: To assess the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding prenatal and infant oral health in a sample of pregnant women from Coimbra, Portugal. Methods: A self-applied questionnaire was administered to randomly selected pregnant women who attended prenatal check-ups at two public health institutions in Coimbra. Collected data included sociodemographic information, oral health knowledge and practices in pregnancy, and knowledge on oral health in children. All ethical requirements were met. Statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential methods. Variables were tested for independence using a chi-square test with a 95% confidence interval. Results: A total of 120 women enrolled in the study. Although 68.9% of participants brushed their teeth twice daily, 36.4% reported not using floss, with a statistically significant association with age (p=0.004). Half of the respondents had not attended a dental appointment before pregnancy, and 59.2% believed pregnancy could be harmful to oral health. Findings showed limited knowledge of the possible consequences of gingivitis and periodontitis to the course of pregnancy and the importance of diet in oral health. Moreover, a low level of understanding was noted regarding the existence and prevention of early childhood caries. Conclusions: Oral health-related knowledge and practices of surveyed women were in general deficient. Considering pregnancy is a period of particular interest for acquiring knowledge and good oral health practices, which are decisive for both the expectant mother and the child, our results highlight an urgent need to implement prenatal oral health care programs in this study population.

Knowledge and Practices of Mothers towards Infant Oral Health Care in Their Children’s First Year of Life

AbstractThis study aimed to assess mothers’ oral health-related knowledge and practices in immediate and late puerperium, and in the child’s first year of life. This study is a prospective cohort study, in which data were collected from 358 mothers of children born between 2013 and 2014, in immediate and late puerperium, and in children’s first year of life, by interviews with sociodemographic characterization and oral health questionnaires, and were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Chi-square test (α = 5%). Participants were mainly aged 20 to 29 years (53.9%), with 7 to 11 years of education (67.6%), from low social class (72.3%), unemployed (58.9%), married or in common-law marriage (84.1%), with more than one child (60.1%). Although 51.7% of them had received information about children’s oral health, only 0.8%, 32.4% and 13.7%, respectively, knew the concept, etiology and preventive attitudes regarding dental caries. Mothers aged under 20 and over 30 years, with lower education and from low social class presented significantly lower oral health-related knowledge. At children’s first year of life, although 78.7% of the children had already been taken to the dentist, half of them had already tasted sugary foods and drinks. It is highlighted the social determination and the need of an improvement of mothers’ oral health related knowledge and practices. Educational actions, especially in prenatal programs, are important to achieve this improvement and to decrease early childhood caries rates.Keywords: Dental Caries. Child. Health Knowledge Attitudes, Practice. Parents. Oral Health.ResumoAvaliar o conhecimento e as práticas de mães sobre a saúde bucal de seus filhos no puerpério imediato, tardio, e no primeiro ano de vida da criança. Trata-se de um estudo de coorte prospectiva, no qual os dados foram coletados de 358 mães de bebês nascidos entre 2013 e 2014, no puerpério imediato, tardio e um ano após o parto, por entrevistas com perguntas sobre dados sociodemográficos e sobre saúde bucal. Os dados foram analisados por estatísticas descritivas e pelo teste Qui-quadrado (α = 5%). As participantes apresentavam, majoritariamente, idades entre 20 a 29 anos (53,9%), com 7 a 11 anos de estudo (67,6%), eram de baixa classe social (72,3%), desempregadas (58,9%), casadas ou em união estável (84,1%), e tinham mais de um filho (60,1%). Apesar de 51.7% delas afirmarem ter recebido informações sobre saúde bucal infantil, apenas 0,8%, 32,4% e 13,7%, respectivamente, sabiam o conceito, etiologia e as atitudes preventivas à cárie. Mães com idades abaixo de 20 e acima de 29 anos apresentaram menor conhecimento sobre saúde bucal do que as demais. No primeiro ano de vida, apesar de 78,7% das crianças já terem ido ao dentista, metade delas já havia experimentado alimentos e bebidas açucarados. Destaca-se a determinação social e a necessidade de melhora no conhecimento e práticas das mães sobre saúde bucal. Ações educativas, especialmente em programas de atenção pré-natal, são importantes para atingir essa melhora e, consequentemente, diminuir as taxas da cárie na primeira infância. Palavras-chave: Cárie Dentária. Criança. Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Práticas em Saúde. Pais. Saúde Bucal.

Infant Oral Health

Infant Oral Health

English

Infant oral health care is essential in a way where it provides a solid foundation on which a healthy oral environment is augmented. Dental caries is perhaps the most infectious and prevalent disease seen in the current scenario. Dental caries is 5 times more common than asthma and 7 times more common than hay fever in children. Rotten primary teeth can influence kids' development, lead to malocclusion, and result in huge torment and possibly perilous swelling. To forestall caries in youngsters, high-risk individuals should be distinguished at an early age (ideally high-risk moms during pre-birth care), and aggressive strategies ought to be received, such as anticipatory guidance, behaviour modifications (oral cleanliness and taking care of practices). On establishment of Dental Home, mothers should be told about preventive measures to take during teething of infants and how to administer oral care and proper cleaning of teeth.

English

Infant oral health is one of the most overlooked aspects when it comes to the oral well -being of a child because many do not consider it to be of much significance. This is generally due to the misconception that children do not have teeth during this phase which leads to the conclusion that focus could be on other developmental aspects. There is also a deficit in the education of parents and family members. Knowledge of mothers is of extreme importance because they need to be well aware that a child's first dental visit should be between 6 - 12 months of age to maximize the preventive potential of fluorides, health literacy and dietary modifications. Oral health, when integrated into primary medical care, can result in improved outcomes for children. A simple message of fluoride adequacy, dietary control of bottle use and sweet intake, oral hygiene, and regular dental visits cross professional barriers. This literature review aims to give mothers and family members access to information so that we can optimise the oral health of the infant. KEY WORDS Infant Oral Health, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mothers, Anticipatory Guidance, Early Childhood caries.

Infant Oral Health: Focus on Caries Prevention during Pregnancy

Infant Oral Health: Focus on Caries Prevention during Pregnancy

Early childhood caries among premature children enrolled in WIC: A retrospective case - Controlled study

Purpose: To investigate the association between premature birth and Early Childhood Caries (ECC) experience, while secondarily evaluating factors that may influence development of caries. Methods: Data collected from patients enrolled at the University of Iowa’s Infant Oral Health Program consisted of prenatal history, child’s demographics, neonatal history, oral hygiene, dietary habits, and clinical findings (visible plaque, enamel defects, and caries). Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were utilized (alpha=0.05). Results: Four hundred and ninety eight randomly matched premature and full-term subjects were included (mean age=21 months [range: 6-71 months]; 51.4% males and 38.9% African Americans). Bivariate analysis revealed no significant differences existed regarding cavitated and non-cavitated caries experience between full-term and premature subjects. Additionally, compared to their counterparts, premature subjects were more likely to eat cariogenic snacks between meals (P=0.028), drink cariogenic beverages >2 times per day (P=0.027), not have their teeth brushed daily (P<0.001), and less likely to have seen a dentist (P=0.04). Logistic regression analysis showed that showed number of teeth present (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.10-1.39 ; P<0.001) and visible plaque on maxillary incisors (OR=5.69, 95% CI: 2.22-14.55; p<0.001) to be significantly associated with ECC in premature subjects. Conclusions: While there was no evidence that prematurity was associated with ECC, premature subjects had cariogenic dietary behaviors and high-risk oral hygiene behaviors.

Infant oral health care: a review on parent’s role in infant oral health

The maintenance and prevention of oral health is one of major concern of parents. Dental caries is one of most common oral manifestation because of lack of knowledge and improper techniques. The first visit should be planned at early ages only so that proper guidance and knowledge should be imparted to the parent to prevent oral diseases. The first visit should include oral screening, oral habit monitoring, Brushing technique demonstration and fluoride application if needed. There should be more involvement to strengthen the role of pediatricians’ in children’s oral health requires an understanding of their current knowledge and practice. In this scoping review, we aimed to comprehensively map what is known about the knowledge and practice of parents regarding children’s oral health.

Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude of Pediatricians and General Dentists toward Infant Oral Health Care, Jaipur

ABSTRACT Introduction Oral health is the foundation upon which dental health must be built. Pediatricians examine infants several times during their 1st and 2nd years of life. Parents usually seek pediatricians’ advice in securing their child's normal growth and development. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding infant oral health in pediatricians and general dentist and to make aware about the preventive oral health care (OHC) needs for the infants to their parents. Materials and methods A total of 100 pediatricians and 100 general dentists who participated in the study were randomly selected. Objective questionnaires related to infant OHC were distributed among the pediatricians and general dentists and asked to fill the pro forma. They were requested to fill an objective questionnaire without providing any oral health information. Results and conclusion The results were statistically analyzed and it was concluded that there was a lack of knowledge among pediatricians as compared to the general dentist but overall both lacked the current concepts of pediatric dentistry. How to cite this article Yadav SK, Nigam AG, Chinchalkar RP, et al. Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude of Pediatricians and General Dentists toward Infant Oral Health Care, Jaipur. J Mahatma Gandhi Univ Med Sci Tech 2020;5(2):69–71.

A survey on evaluating the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding infant oral health among Pediatricians of South Bangalore: A pilot study

There is an imprecise tendency for separating Oral health from General health, however oral health forms an integral part of overall health reflecting the general health and wellbeing of an individual. Dental disease is one of the most vulnerable chronic disease affecting children throughout the world. Evidence increasingly suggests that for successful prevention of dental disease its preventive interaction should begin with the 1st year of life. The evidence in literature reveals that when the frequency of visit a to the paediatricians and paediatric dentist are analysed, regardless of the nature of service being sought (public or private), the parents systematically consult paediatricians throughout the 1st year of life, which does not occur in relation to dental queries. Hence, paediatricians are at a unique position to begin the process of early assessment of oral health and provision of anticipatory guidance and educating the parents regarding good oral hygiene, prevention of dental caries, and establishing proper feeding habits. It is unclear to what degree paediatricians are knowledgeable about preventable oral health and to what extent they are willing to participate in assessment and prevention of dental disease. This survey takes a step forward by examining baseline knowledge, opinions & practice implemented by the paediatricians in their health care professional regarding Infant oral health and identifying the barriers to oral health assessment and to make referrals to the Pedodontists.

Effectiveness of a Lecture-Based Educational Module for Parental Knowledge Regarding Infant Oral Health Care

Context: As parents are primarily responsible for their infant's oral health, it is dependent on their beliefs, attitude, and knowledge. Thus, educating parents by providing anticipatory guidance could help in improving the oral health of infants. Aim: To test the effectiveness of a lecture-based educational module in the improvement and retention of parental knowledge regarding infant oral health care. Setting and Design: This interventional study, with the inclusion of 110 parents of infants, was carried out in the Departments of Pediatric Dentistry, Pediatrics, and Gynaecology. Subjects and Methods: An educational module in the form of a brief lecture using a power-point presentation was prepared. This included the key features of anticipatory guidance such as the importance of healthy pregnancy, diet and nutrition, oral hygiene maintenance, feeding practices, development of teeth, causes and sequelae of early childhood caries, importance of early and regular dental visits, and treatment of carious primary teeth. Parental knowledge regarding infant oral health was assessed before and after the intervention, and later at a 3-month interval, based on their responses to a validated questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Percentage analysis was used to observe the change in, and retention of parents' knowledge. Results: There is a lack of basic knowledge among parents regarding infant oral health care. The lecture-based educational module was found to be effective in improving parental knowledge and in its retention over a 3-month period. Conclusions: The lecture-based education module was found to be an effective tool in providing anticipatory guidance to parents regarding infant oral health.

TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES AMONG THE GYNECOLOGISTS REGARDING THE INFLUENCE OF PERINATAL MATERNAL ORAL HEALTH IN DETERMINING THE FUTURE DENTAL HEALTH OF THE CHILD

Background: Perinatal and infant oral health should be considered as the foundation of Pediatric preventive oral health care. A proper perinatal oral health care guidance provided by Gynecologists during the time of pregnancy can help an expectant mother to improve or maintain good oral health status and thereby reduce the complications that can be associated with poor oral health in the mother and can indirectly dictate the future oral health and general health of her child. Gynecologists who are aware about the infectious nature of the oral microbes and the effect of discrete periods or windows of inoculation should instruct the mother about the higher risk of developing dental caries in their children by the modification of maternal dental flora using proper perinatal preventive programs. Aim:To assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Gynecologists of Central Kerala about the importance of early oral health care for children. Materials and methods:A questionnaire based cross sectional survey was conducted among 200 Gynecologists from Ernakulam and Thrissur district, Central Kerala, India. After obtaining the consent and explaining the nature of the study, a single investigator distributed the questionnaire among the randomly selected participants and requested to answer within 15-30 minutes. The answered sheets were collected back on the same day itself. Result: A statistical evaluation using the Chi-square was done to evaluate the homogeneity of the respondents and one way ANOVA to evaluate the influence of study parameters on categorical scale. Mean percentage score of each category was evaluated. The result showed that the Gynecologists had a good attitude towards child oral health related topics but a less score was obtained for the knowledge and practice category. Conclusion:Majority of the participants from the study advocated the need of improving their knowledge regarding the child health related topics in future to fill their knowledge gap so that they can effectively devote time and effort to inspect oral health of the child. Gynecologists preferred CME(Continuing medical education) and their respective journals for the purpose. An improvement in the multidisciplinary approach of Pedodontists was advocated to implement a positive attitude among these contributors so that they can perform preventive measures in the most effective and efficient way to nurture a caries free smile in a childs future.