Awareness About Dental Caries in Parents of School Going Children: A Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To assess the awareness about dental caries in parents of school going children attending a tertiary care hospital at Hyderabad.

Study design: Prospective and qualitative study.

Place and duration: Operative dentistry department, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Hyderabad from Aug 2014 to Jan 2015.

Material & Methods: Children of class 2 -4 were screened for presence of caries, out of 417 children screened, 250 were having caries therefore 250 parents were included in the study, they were divided into two groups according to educational status. Group A comprising of parents with a university degree and Group B with a lower qualification, the questionnaire was filled in by the parents during parent teacher meeting, the questionnaire included questions regarding food items leading to caries, number of times children brush teeth, importance of fluoride in preventing caries how often brush was changed and about dental check up .SPSS13 was used for data analysis.

Result: Group A comprised of 137 parents and group B included 113. The awareness regarding sweets predisposing to caries was 66.4% in A and 45.1 %in group B. Importance of fluoride in prevention of caries was 40.1% and 31.9% in A and B groups respectively. With regards to assistance during brushing the answer was positive in 55.5% in Group A and 31.0% in B group. Monitoring during brushing was 19.7% in A group and 13.3 % in group B. Awareness of brushing twice was 63.5% in group A and 25.7% in group B. Change of brush every 3 months was 55.5% and 27.4 % in group A and B respectively. Caries experience of parents was 43.8% and 61.1 % in group A and B respectively. Visit of the child for dental check-up was 18.2 % in group A and 10.6 % in group B.

Conclusion: Our study showed better knowledge and attitude of educated parents as compared to those who were less educated. Twice a year regular dental check up can have a way for healthy teeth and healthy life.