Oral health knowledge, awareness and associated practices of pre-school children's mothers in Greater Noida, India.

AIM

To assess the oral health knowledge, awareness and associated exercised practices of pre-school children's mothers in Greater Noida, India.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The sampling frame for this study was chosen via convenient sampling. It comprised 598 mothers of children aged between 2 and 5 years, attending the paediatrics division of a government and four private hospitals in Greater Noida. A pre-tested questionnaire was distributed to the participants which comprised questions on the participant's sociodemographic characteristics and 23 statements regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices towards their child's oral health. Data were analysed using SPSS 21.0. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The study showed that merely 24.9% of the participating mothers had good knowledge and 29.1% and 12.5% exhibited poor attitude and practices, respectively, towards their child's oral health. Knowledge about the role of fluorides, causes and prevention of dental caries, gum disease, malocclusion, appropriate timing of commencing of toothbrushing and importance of frequent dental visit was found to be inadequate among the participants. The knowledge varied significantly with respect to age (P = 0.04), education (P = 0.00) and working status (P = 0.006) of the mothers.

CONCLUSION

The study participants exhibited poor knowledge and attitude towards their child's oral heath which was leading to the adoption of poor oral health practices by these mothers. Thus, to improve the oral health of children, appropriate practices and measures should be promoted among their parents/guardians.