A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Understand Urban Latino Parent’s Oral Health Knowledge and Beliefs

Abstract

The aim of this study is to describe oral health knowledge, behaviors, and beliefs of Latino parents with children under the ages of 6 years and to conduct a needs assessment with Latino families to better understand the challenges in maintaining oral health for their children. The investigator collaborated with a community serving the organization to recruit Latino primary caregivers for focus groups interviews and 30 primary caregivers were recruited. The focus groups data was transcribed and analyzed using a grounded theory approach using QDA Miner software. Findings from the focus groups demonstrate that the primary caregivers described barriers in maintaining oral health for their children including cultural barriers, child's temperament, lack of time, and easy access to high-risk foods. All participants said that they wanted to receive information on the oral health of their children; they wanted the dentist or the hygienist to demonstrate oral hygiene practices and explain to them the reasons for oral health behaviors. Although the primary caregivers recognized some factors related to caries development, their knowledge was limited in depth. Culturally appropriate oral health education is required for this population, which could lead to more adherent oral health behavior and a higher sense of self-efficacy in Latino parents.

A cross sectional study of Mexican caregiver social status, dental knowledge, self‐efficacy, and caregiver/child oral health. A structural equation model

“…Therefore, dental teams should teach caregivers the principles of quality oral care, which are necessary for their own and their children's oral health. A previous study reported that Latino caregivers mentioned several barriers in taking care of their children's oral health; for example, they expect dental professionals to demonstrate how to perform quality oral self‐care …”

“…The public health implication of the present work was to acquire necessary information, understand the needs of this population, and prepare for designing culturally appropriate oral health education program for Mexican caregivers. A successful preventive program could lead to a higher sense of parental self‐efficacy, and subsequently, the establishment of oral health maintenance practices for the family …”

Asociación entre el conocimiento de los padres sobre salud bucal y uso de técnicas educativas con relación a la presencia de biofilm y caries en infantes

“…Caregivers are already aware of general topics regarding children's oral health, such as the fact that the consumption of sugary food causes caries and that teeth should be cleaned; however, knowledge limitations are seen when speaking about specific topics such as the bacterial origin of caries, the use of fluoride toothpaste, parental supervision during tooth brushing and the importance of an early dental appointment [21][22][23][24][25] The best way to control ECC is to give caregivers oral health education before the baby turns one year of age, so they can value the impor-…”

“…Los padres de familia están al tanto de cuestiones generales sobre la salud bucal de los niños, como el consumo de alimentos altos en azúcar es el causante de las caries y que los dientes deben ser higienizados; pero en temas específicos como el origen bacteriano de la caries, uso del dentífrico fluorado, la supervisión del cepillado por los padres y la importancia de la visita odontológica a temprana edad; se observan limitaciones de conocimiento [21][22][23][24][25] La mejor forma de controlar la Caries de la Infancia Temprana es la educación odontológica a los padres o cuidadores antes del primer año de vida con el objetivo que ellos valoren la importancia de mantener una buena salud bucal en niños de esa edad 26 . La aplicación de Educación para la Salud requiere de un modelo que modifique el comportamiento de los individuos y poblaciones para mejorar su salud.…”

“…Al evaluar los conocimientos de los padres de familia, se obtuvo un promedio de 7,53 sobre 12 puntos (Nivel Regular), coincidiendo con los resultados de varios estudios [16][17][18] . Esto corrobora la idea de que los padres de familia poseen conocimientos superficiales sobre la salud bucal de los infantes, específicamente sobre su susceptibilidad a la Caries de la Infancia Temprana; así como el número de respuestas incorrectas obtenidas en temas específicos de prevención en bebés (cantidad adecuada de dentífrico fluorado, uso de sellantes, visita odontológica) pone en evidencia las deficiencias, como lo reportado en la literatura [21][22][23][24][25] .…”