A study on the knowledge, attitude and practice on the oral and dental health care in mother with children under 6 years

ABSTRACT

The finding revealed that the majority of the mothers had a high and moderate level of knowledge and attitude towards dental health. Around two-thirds of the mothers had good dental health preventive behavior (62.7%). Among them 71.3% of the mothers brushed their children's teeth two to three times a day, and 76.0% cleaned their children's teeth after meals. Most of the mothers used fluoride toothpaste to brush their children's teeth (86.0%). However, misconceptions still existed. More than two-thirds of the mothers didn't know the advantage of pit and fissure sealant; the appropriate time to brush their children's teeth, and the effect of Tetracycline on their child's teeth. Only 32.7% of the mothers brought their child to see the dentist for check-up and 15.3% did so at an appropriate time which was every six months. Television was the most frequent source of information about dental health that the respondents were exposed to (89.3%). The result of the study showed a significant association between knowledge of dental health and dental health preventive behavior (P = 0.031) and the level of mother's education and dental health preventative behavior (P = 0.033).