Parents’ Willingness to Invest in Primary Oral Health Prevention for Their Preschool Children

Abstract

There is growing evidence for the beneficial effects of starting oral health prevention early in life. Preventing dental caries in very young children requires considerable investment from parents. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to explore parents’ willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to invest in time (WTIT) for primary oral health prevention in preschool children and describe whether these are related to the parents’ demographic, socio-economic and behavioural characteristics. In a convenience sample of parents of preschool children aged six months to four years (n = 142), data were collected with questionnaires. On average, parents were willing to pay EUR15.84 per month, invest time for 1.9 dental visits per year, and spend 2.4 min per day brushing their child’s teeth. A higher education level of the mother and having a child older than two were associated with a higher WTIT in brushing minutes per day (p = 0.03). In addition, parents who brushed their child’s teeth more frequently were also more willing to invest in brushing minutes (p < 0.01) and money (p < 0.01). Findings emphasise the importance of early oral health interventions and the need to increase awareness of primary prevention’s importance in maintaining healthy teeth and reducing possibly oral health inequalities.

Socioeconomic Inequalities and Toothbrushing Frequency among Schoolchildren Aged 6 to 12 Years in a Multi-Site Study of Mexican Cities: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The mother’s characteristics have an influence on various health events of her children. This has been observed by other authors [ 15 , 31 ]. Young children depend on their parents for their health behaviors, daily hygiene, lifestyle habits, and oral health maintenance, including toothbrushing, eating habits, and dental visits.…”

“…Young children depend on their parents for their health behaviors, daily hygiene, lifestyle habits, and oral health maintenance, including toothbrushing, eating habits, and dental visits. Caries prevention is derived from a favorable balance between the investment of resources, particularly money and time, and benefits obtained [ 31 ].…”

“…This observation has been replicated around the world for toothbrushing frequency, because individuals of lower socioeconomic status practice less frequent toothbrushing [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In addition to SEP, other variables have been observed to be associated with toothbrushing frequency, such as sociodemographic and behavioral variables [ 15 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Ethnic inequalities in child oral health behaviours among five- and eight-year-old children from England, Wales and Northern Ireland

“…31 Children are dependent on their parents for their health behaviours and access to dental services (acting as a caregiver). 32 Parents perform an essential role in instilling favourable behaviours in their children as role models for their children. 33 Future studies should look at the characteristics of the family environment that are conducive to the establishment of favourable parental and child oral health behaviours.…”

Oral Health Coaches at Well-Baby Clinics to Promote Oral Health in Preschool Children From the First Erupted Tooth: Protocol for a Multisite, Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

“…However, there is currently no consensus on targeting preschool-age children from the first year of life and effectively offering preventive care from first tooth eruption [ 16 , 53 ]. As a result, there is a gap in the current provision of preventive oral care, and knowledge is lacking among the target group and health professionals [ 15 , 54 ]. Furthermore, our study population is at risk of caries at an age at which oral health care is shown to be of low priority for many, even though health insurance fully covers it [ 8 ].…”