OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the oral health of Polish three-year-olds, to investigate oral health-related knowledge, habits and educational levels of their mothers, and to determine whether mothers' health-related knowledge influenced caries severity in their children. DESIGN: A cross-sectional. nationwide oral health survey of three-year-olds was performed in 2002. Their mothers completed self-administered questionnaires. PARTICIPANTS: The oral health survey covered 1,114 three-year-olds chosen by stratified random sampling. OUTCOME MEASURES: Dental caries was recorded according to WHO criteria and methods. Questionnaires investigated demographic factors, mothers' and children's oral health-related habits and oral health knowledge. RESULTS: A total of 43.8% of three-year-olds were caries-free. Mean dmft was 2.9, with the greatest component being decayed teeth (2.8). Nearly two-thirds of mothers had never taken their child to a dentist; a similar proportion declared care of the deciduous teeth to be unnecessary. Mothers' opinions concerning their children's oral health was over-optimistic. A strong interdependence was found between oral health and mothers' level of oral health-related knowledge, and between mothers' level of knowledge and their level of education. CONCLUSION: The level of dental caries in Polish three-year-olds was alarmingly high, and was associated with a low level of oral health-related knowledge among mothers, suggesting an urgent need for the implementation of systematic oral health education and promotion for expectant mothers and mothers of small children.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the oral health of Polish three-year-olds, to investigate oral health-related knowledge, habits and educational levels of their mothers, and to determine whether mothers' health-related knowledge influenced caries severity in their children. DESIGN: A cross-sectional. nationwide oral health survey of three-year-olds was performed in 2002. Their mothers completed self-administered questionnaires. PARTICIPANTS: The oral health survey covered 1,114 three-year-olds chosen by stratified random sampling. OUTCOME MEASURES: Dental caries was recorded according to WHO criteria and methods. Questionnaires investigated demographic factors, mothers' and children's oral health-related habits and oral health knowledge. RESULTS: A total of 43.8% of three-year-olds were caries-free. Mean dmft was 2.9, with the greatest component being decayed teeth (2.8). Nearly two-thirds of mothers had never taken their child to a dentist; a similar proportion declared care of the deciduous teeth to be unnecessary. Mothers' opinions concerning their children's oral health was over-optimistic. A strong interdependence was found between oral health and mothers' level of oral health-related knowledge, and between mothers' level of knowledge and their level of education. CONCLUSION: The level of dental caries in Polish three-year-olds was alarmingly high, and was associated with a low level of oral health-related knowledge among mothers, suggesting an urgent need for the implementation of systematic oral health education and promotion for expectant mothers and mothers of small children.
Authors: Morenike O Folayan; Kikelomo A Kolawole; Elizabeth O Oziegbe; Titus Oyedele; Olusegun V Oshomoji; Nneka M Chukwumah; Nneka Onyejaka Journal: BMC Oral Health Date: 2015-06-30 Impact factor: 2.757
Authors: Barbara Cvikl; Gertraud Haubenberger-Praml; Petra Drabo; Michael Hagmann; Reinhard Gruber; Andreas Moritz; Andrea Nell Journal: BMC Oral Health Date: 2014-05-09 Impact factor: 2.757