Mohammed Alwusaybie Mahdi, AlBaqshi Fatima Sameer, Alshaks Mohammed Afif, Zaki Alabdullah Mousa, Abdulaziz Alwosaibei Mohammed, AlBahrani Hassan Jumah, Alsaleh Hassan Mohammed, Mohammad Almadeh Naji, Alyousef Ali Hussain
Department of Endodontics, Dental Centre, Hail Cluster, Ministry of Health, Hail, SAU.
Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, King Faisal General Hospital, Ministry of Health, Hofuf, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Nov 17;16(11):e73842. doi: 10.7759/cureus.73842. eCollection 2024 Nov.
The present study aimed to assess parental knowledge and awareness of early orthodontic consultation in children.
This cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of schoolchildren who were randomly selected from public schools in the Al Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia, using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected using a prevalidated, pretested study questionnaire distributed to parents through the schoolchildren. The questionnaire focused on the demographic data, knowledge, and awareness of parents regarding their children's need for orthodontic consultation. Descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test were used to analyze the quantitative data collected.
More than 50% of the study participants exhibited a good perception of most of the aspects of early orthodontic consultation in children. However, only 42.8% of study subjects exhibited awareness of space maintainers and their use in a growing child, while only 37.5% knew that the first orthodontic visit should be at seven years of age. The age of the participants as well as their educational level were found to be important demographic factors influencing knowledge and awareness of the need for early orthodontic consultation (p<0.05).
The present study found that there were knowledge and awareness gaps among Saudi parents regarding early orthodontic consultation, including those on the need for space maintainers and the age of initial orthodontic consultation. There exists a need for a targeted focus on creating awareness amongst younger and lesser-educated parents, which can largely improve the awareness pertaining to early orthodontic treatment initiation in children.
本研究旨在评估家长对儿童早期正畸咨询的了解和认识。
本横断面研究采用便利抽样技术，在沙特阿拉伯艾哈萨地区公立学校随机选取的学童家长中进行。通过学童向家长发放经过预验证和预测试的研究问卷来收集数据。问卷重点关注人口统计学数据、家长对孩子正畸咨询需求的了解和认识。使用描述性统计和卡方检验分析收集到的定量数据。
超过50%的研究参与者对儿童早期正畸咨询的大多数方面有良好认知。然而，只有42.8%的研究对象了解间隙保持器及其在生长发育中的儿童中的使用，而只有37.5%的人知道首次正畸就诊应在7岁。研究发现，参与者的年龄及其教育水平是影响早期正畸咨询需求的知识和认识的重要人口统计学因素（p<0.05）。
本研究发现，沙特家长在早期正畸咨询方面存在知识和认识差距，包括对间隙保持器需求和首次正畸咨询年龄的认识。有必要针对性地关注提高年轻和受教育程度较低家长的认识，这在很大程度上可以提高对儿童早期正畸治疗开始的认识。
