Knowledge and Attitude of Parents of Preschool Children about Early Childhood Caries and Dental Caries Prevention / 대한소아치과학회지

ABSTRACT

To investigate knowledge and attitude of parents about early childhood caries and dental caries prevention, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 247 parents of children who had oral screening experience among 3 to 5 years old children in 3 kindergartens in Jeonju city.A total of 220 completed questionnaires were selected for final analysis. The overall perception of the parents about oral health of the children was 82.3 points (10.7 / 13) in terms of 100 points. There were statistically significant correlations between maternal age (p = 0.027), maternal education level (p = 0.002), household monthly income (p = 0.000) and maternal oral health knowledge level. The main source of oral health information was ‘dentist and dental hygienist’(83.6%) followed by ‘Web search’(22.3%).Compared with the previous studies, the level of knowledge of parents about oral health of the children was improved. However, in order to raise awareness of the parents about the poorly assessed items in this study, it is necessary to increase the participation rate by advertising the national dental screening program for infants and children and make efforts to improve the quality of oral health education in screening.