Assessment of mothers' participation in a program of prevention and control of caries and periodontal diseases for infants.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate mothers who participated in an educational and preventive program for infants in relation to their knowledge on oral health practices.

METHODS

A cohort study was performed with 112 mothers and their babies aged 0 to 8 months and registered in the project "Promotion of Oral Health in Early Childhood" from the Federal University of Maranhão (Northeast Brazil). Initially, semi-structured interviews on the level of mothers' knowledge as to their babies' oral health were conducted. The oral cavities of the infants were also examined regarding: level of plaque, gingival bleeding, and dental caries. Then, educational lectures were ministered and, after a year of follow-up, new interviews and clinical examination were performed. For statistical analysis, the chi-square and Fisher exact tests were applied, being significant p<0.05.

RESULTS

Before the educational lectures, 93% of the mothers performed oral hygiene of their babies and 57.3% performed it at daytime and nighttime. After the lectures, all mothers performed the oral hygiene (p>0.02) and 74.7% performed it at daytime and nighttime (p=0.01). There were no differences regarding the consumption of cariogenic food in the initial and final questionnaires (p>0.05). Initially, 5.6% of dental surfaces had caries; 29.7%, plaques; and 11.9%, gingival bleeding. After the lectures, only 0.4% of the dental surfaces had caries (p<0.0001); 2.4%, plaque (p<0.0001); and 10.61%, gingival bleeding (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge acquisition is essential to improve oral health conditions.