Knowledge attitude and practices of parents towards oral health maintenance among their children and correlation with dental caries experience- A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to assess parent's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding their children's oral health maintenance and its correlation with dental caries experience. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 504 parents of children aged 5-10 years between September 2013 and November 2014. A self-designed pretested 15-item questionnaire was used to assess the KAP. Dental caries experience was recorded as Decayed, Missing, Filled, Teeth (DMFT) and decayed-extracted-filled teeth among the children. Results: Dental caries prevalence among children was 61.1%. Good KAP was reported among 23% of the parents, 64% had fair, whereas 11.5% had poor KAP. One-way ANOVA showed a significant difference (P = 0.04) in deft scores among parents having good, fair, and poor KAP. The highest deft score was found among children of parents with poor KAP. The DMFT scores did not show a significant difference between the KAP categories (P = 0.76). Conclusion: Better knowledge, positive attitude, and good oral health practices followed for children by the parents will reflect the good dental health status of their children.