Kharouba Johnny, Mansour Shaden, Ratson Tal, Naishlos Sarit, Weissman Gina, Blumer Sigalit
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Children (Basel). 2023 Jan 10;10(1):136. doi: 10.3390/children10010136.
Mothers' awareness regarding the risk factors for the development of early childhood caries is crucial. The current study aims to examine the knowledge of breastfeeding mothers about their baby's dental health and prevention of ECC while comparing primiparous mothers to multiparous mothers. A total of 165 mothers aged 20-49 y/o participated in the study by completing questionnaires that assessed the knowledge and attitudes of mothers toward their infants' oral health. Results showed that (1) mothers were found to be highly knowledgeable regarding the oral hygiene of their infants and the recommended breastfeeding best practices (71%); (2) mothers with lower education showed poor knowledge regarding the recommended practices of infant oral health; (3) a large proportion of the mothers in the sample (62%) reported that they usually tasted the food before giving it to their baby, in a way they could transmit bacteria to infants; (4) most of the mothers (68%) were not aware that their dental health during pregnancy affects the infants' dental health; and (5) multiparous mothers were more knowledgeable regarding artificial baby milk composition (96%) in comparison with mothers with only a single child (60%). According to the results, there is a need to improve the knowledge of breastfeeding mothers, especially mothers who have one child and mothers with a lower education about their baby's dental health. The results of this study shed light on the knowledge of breastfeeding mothers on this important topic and could serve policymakers to improve practices toward advancing better oral health for infants, without sacrificing the benefits of breastfeeding, which are so crucial for infant health and development.
母亲对幼儿龋齿发病风险因素的认知至关重要。本研究旨在考察母乳喂养母亲对其宝宝牙齿健康及预防早期儿童龋的了解情况，同时比较初产妇与经产妇。共有165名年龄在20至49岁的母亲参与了该研究，她们通过填写问卷来评估母亲对其婴儿口腔健康的知识和态度。结果显示：（1）母亲们在婴儿口腔卫生及推荐的母乳喂养最佳做法方面知识水平较高（71%）；（2）受教育程度较低的母亲对婴儿口腔健康推荐做法的了解较差；（3）样本中的很大一部分母亲（62%）报告说，她们通常会在给宝宝喂食前先尝尝食物，这样可能会将细菌传播给婴儿；（4）大多数母亲（68%）不知道她们孕期的牙齿健康会影响婴儿的牙齿健康；（5）与只有一个孩子的母亲（60%）相比，经产妇对人工婴儿奶粉成分的了解更多（96%）。根据研究结果，有必要提高母乳喂养母亲的知识水平，尤其是只有一个孩子的母亲和受教育程度较低的母亲对其宝宝牙齿健康的了解。本研究结果揭示了母乳喂养母亲在这一重要话题上的知识情况，可为政策制定者改进相关做法提供参考，以促进婴儿口腔健康的改善，同时不牺牲母乳喂养对婴儿健康和发育至关重要的益处。
