Parental Knowledge, Oral Health Practices and Barriers to Dental Care Among Children Attending in Out-Patient Department of Pediatric Dentistry

Mannan, Huda; Ahmed, Anam; Nuruzzaman, Khandakar; Akhanda, Manna Haque

doi:10.5281/zenodo.17737642

Published July 2021 | Version v1

Journal article Open

Parental Knowledge, Oral Health Practices and Barriers to Dental Care Among Children Attending in Out-Patient Department of Pediatric Dentistry

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Pedodontics, University Dental College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2. Associate Professor (CC), Department of Dental Public Health, University Dental College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3. Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics, University Dental College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
4. MS Resident (Pediatric Dentistry), BSMMU, Dhaka.

Contributors

Contact person:

Mannan, Huda¹

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Pedodontics, University Dental College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Email: tonnydr01@yahoo.com

Abstarct

Background: The knowledge, awareness and attitude of parents toward oral health is an important determinant of oral health of children. The research evaluated parents' knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and obstacles to dental care in a pediatric dentistry outpatient department.
Methods: A cross-sectional interview-based study was carried out in 2017 using a structured 24-item questionnaire on 138 parents of children aged 3-12 years to assess their demographic characteristics, knowledge, awareness, attitude, and dental practices.
Results: The results show that parents lacked knowledge of child oral health. A total of 71.0% of parents correctly identified bacterial plaque and sugar as a likely cause of caries. However, only 52.2% of parents appeared to be aware that fluoride and sealants could help prevent caries. Only 42 0% of the respondents were aware of the recommended first dental visit age (12 months). 41 3% of the respondents knew the appropriate frequency of sugary snacks. Almost 90% of the population agree that early visits prevent future problems. But only 18.1% of the population visited for preventive dental visits. More than half of visits were due to pain. 71.0% of the participants had parents who supervised their tooth brushing while 62.3% of the children consumed sugarsnacks/beverages daily. The study revealed that primary barrier for child ‘s dental care was financial constraint (48.6%)’. next barrier in the order of merit was unawareness of preventive services (31.2%), access to dental facilities (21.0%), parental’s dental anxiety (15.9%).
Conclusion: In conclusion, although parents had moderate knowledge about caries etiology and the importance of primary teeth, it is evident from the study that there were significant gaps in their knowledge regarding preventive practice, the right timing of the dental visit, and the implementation of recommended oral health behaviors. There is a need for comprehensive parental education programs and policies tackling socioeconomic barriers to promote better children’s oral health.