Influence of parental dental health knowledge and practices on their child’s oral health

Introduction: Parents’ oral health knowledge and attitude have a direct influence on oral health care options for their children.

Aim: To evaluate attitude and knowledge level of parents toward their children’s dental health practice.

Materials and methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted amongst randomly selected parents having children between the ages of 2 and 12 years from Benghazi, Libya. A questionnaire was distributed and completed by the parents to assess parent’s knowledge and awareness about the primary teeth. The data was statistical analyzed and comparison of the answers from the collected information was made.

Results: One hundred and seventeen of parents completed the survey. Around 54.7% of participants were mothers and 35.9% were fathers, 9.4% were guardians, and their age was between 20 and 49 years. Although more than half of parents (59%) showed knowledge and attitude, the frequency of tooth brushing was low, only less than half of their children (40%) brushed teeth twice or more per day. Even though most of the parents had medium knowledge towards the primary teeth, dental visit was low, majority (69%) reported visiting the dentist only when child experienced of pain or toothache. And only third of parents had little knowledge about the time of eruption of first permanent molar. The majority (83.8%) would prefer to have their children’s carious teeth filled.

Conclusion: Generally parent’s dental health awareness and knowledge were adequate but their attitude and practice were inadequate. Educating the parents and an increase in knowledge about caring of primary teeth and their significance effect on permanent teeth will encourage parents to provide better oral health to their children.