Parent’s Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Prevention of Early Childhood Caries in Al jouf Province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: To measure the knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices of parents in regards to their understanding of early childhood caries (ECC) in Al jouf province, Saudi Arabia (KSA). Material and Methods: A cross-sectional oral health survey was conducted among 228 parents, who were selected by stratified cluster sampling. A questionnaire consisting of 10 questions in each domain addressing knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice for ECC was applied. Scoring in the knowledge field included Yes/No/Don't know, while the attitude and practice domains used a 5-point Likert scale. Results: The mean values for knowledge of the respondents was 'Yes' (106.1 ±46.12), 'No' (63.5 ±50.95), and 'Don't know' (58.4 ±23.21); the p-value was p>0.05. The mean values for attitudes of the parents were strongly disagree (49.8 ±33.51), disagree (28 ±15.63), cannot say (47.4 ±20.33), agree (69.4 ±26.57), and strongly agree (33.4 ±30.48); the p-value was p<0.05. The mean values for preventive practices were strongly disagree (23.3 ±25.15), disagree (27.6 ±28.29), cannot say (38.9 ±31.8), agree (84.9 ±28.07), and stronglyagree (53.3 ±38.73); the p-value was <0.05. Conclusion: The parents did not have adequate knowledge of ECC but did have a good attitude and practice towards its prevention.

Knowledge on Childhood Dental Caries Among Parents of Under Five Children in A Community at Biratnagar, Nepal

“…A study conducted in India by Nagarajappa et al (2013) showed nearly half of the parents (48.5%) believed that caries occurs after 2 years of age whereas in contrary this study revealed that majority of the participants (90%) stated that caries can occur in under five children. Kumar et al (2018) stated that 51% of the study population accepted that night time bottle feeding affects child's tooth and the similar finding was revealed by the findings of this study (53%). Similarly, in consistency to the finding of only 3% of the participants were able to state the first sign of dental caries as white lines or spots on the tooth surface study by Kumar et al (2018) also revealed only 7% were aware about the first sign of dental caries.…”

“…Kumar et al (2018) stated that 51% of the study population accepted that night time bottle feeding affects child's tooth and the similar finding was revealed by the findings of this study (53%). Similarly, in consistency to the finding of only 3% of the participants were able to state the first sign of dental caries as white lines or spots on the tooth surface study by Kumar et al (2018) also revealed only 7% were aware about the first sign of dental caries. This may be due the fact that minor changes are usually ignored as they bring no remarkable changes.…”

“…The study finding revealed that mean age of participants was 28.29 which is similar to the findings of the study conducted in Saudi Arabia which showed that the mean age of participants was 30 (Kumar et al, 2018). Likewise, proportion of female participants was 88% which is in accordance to the study by Mani et al (2012) in Malaysia where 90.2% were female, 70.6% were homemaker and 29.4% used to work outside the home and this supports this study findings where 73% were homemaker and 27% used to work outside the home.…”