Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Mothers towards Infant Oral Healthcare

Abstract

BackgroundAmong all the oral diseases, dental caries is the most common chronic disease affecting the children. Early childhood caries is one of the most severe forms of dental caries affecting the children less than 3 years. Though dental caries is preventable, not much importance has been given to the preventive aspect of dental caries. This is because of the lack of oral health education. Vertical colonization occurs from caregiver usually mother to the child. Since mother play an important role in a child’s life, their knowledge about child’s oral health will have a significant impact on the child’s oral health status. A proper knowledge for the mothers regarding infant’s oral health care will be beneficial in reducing the burden of dental caries in children. Hence a study was conducted to evaluate the mother’s knowledge, attitude and practice towards infant oral health careMaterial and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenient sample of 185 first time mothers with a child aged 9 to 24 months of age visiting Department of Pediatrics and Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry. Permission to carry out the study was obtained from the Institutional Ethical Board. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire used in this study was divided into two sections. The first section contained demographic details and the second section contained knowledge about primary teeth and practice of oral health care. All the participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The purpose of the study and the questionnaire were explained to each participant. The questionnaire was completed and returned before leaving the clinic. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.ResultsTotal 52.5% of the mothers responded that first tooth erupt after 6 months. A total of 86.5% of the mothers were not aware of the first dental visit. 77.8% did not agree that caries causing bacteria is transferred from mother to the child; 53% mothers did not agree that night time bottle feeding causes dental caries and 78.4% disagreed that nocturnal breastfeeding can cause dental caries in children. A total of 65.4% mothers feel dental check-up is not necessary when the first tooth erupt, and 95.7% mother did not have any information on infant oral health care. 72.4% of mothers started using toothbrush and paste after all the primary teeth erupted and only 5.9% of the mother had the knowledge about proper dispensing of toothpaste for children.ConclusionOverall knowledge and attitude of mothers towards oral health care of children is poor. Health care professionals like a gynecologist, pediatrician Anganwadi workers who contact first-time mothers need to be trained to disseminate appropriate infant oral health care information. The mother needs to be educated about oral health during their antenatal check upHow to cite this article: Dhull KS, Dutta B, Devraj IM, Samir PV. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Mothers towards Infant Oral Healthc...

Knowledge and Practices of Mothers towards Infant Oral Health Care in Their Children’s First Year of Life

“…23 Inadequate mothers' OHP towards their children were also This study assessed mothers' OHK and OHP towards infant oral health care in the late puerperal period and one year after childbirth. In other studies 10,11 these parameters were assessed only near or after the first year of children's life, when early childhood caries could be possibly occurring if inadequate oral health-related habits towards the child had already been established. If mothers' OHK and OHP are poor, there is a need to improve them by the awareness of mothers and the change of OHP.…”

“…[7][8][9] In this context, findings from studies that assess mothers' OHK and OHP regarding their children can provide grounds to the implementation of strategies of prevention and promotion of children's oral health. [9][10][11] Some studies had already assessed mothers' OHK and OHP. And in these studies, for example, as mothers did not present awareness of the need to start toothbrushing since the eruption of the baby's first teeth, their knowledge and practices were likely to need an improvement.…”

“…And in these studies, for example, as mothers did not present awareness of the need to start toothbrushing since the eruption of the baby's first teeth, their knowledge and practices were likely to need an improvement. 10,12 Remarkably, oral healthrelated practices are acquired from parents, and therefore, they play a determining role in the children's oral health; and that is the main reason why mothers should present higher levels of OHK and adequate OHP, to guarantee their children a good oral health. 8,9,[11][12][13] OHK levels can be influenced by factors such as age, educational status, mother's employment status and household income, being younger mothers, with lower education, unemployed and from lower income families those who present lower levels of OHK.…”

“…2 Further, it is suggested that mothers must be made aware of this issue since prenatal and puerperal period, with reinforcement on the information received, in every new child's dental appointment. 7,10 The majority of studies that assess OHK and OHP were conducted with mothers whose children were already above 12 months of age. 10,11 As children of such age would have at least one erupted tooth, probably, the parents would have already started the routines regarding oral hygiene towards them; therefore, they must have had correct information about this issue, to perform such routines in an adequate way.…”

“…7,10 The majority of studies that assess OHK and OHP were conducted with mothers whose children were already above 12 months of age. 10,11 As children of such age would have at least one erupted tooth, probably, the parents would have already started the routines regarding oral hygiene towards them; therefore, they must have had correct information about this issue, to perform such routines in an adequate way. Or, on the contrary , if the parents were not aware of the need to start toothbrushing as the child's first tooth erupts, children around 12 months age and above would be lacking their adequate oral healthcare.…”