Parenting Styles and their Influence on Child's Dental Behavior and Caries Status: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim: The present study aimed to evaluate the association between parenting styles, child's behavior in dental setting and dental caries status. Study design: Children aged 3-7 years on their first dental visit were included in the study. Their parents were asked to complete Parenting Style Dimension Questionnaire (PSDQ) to assess their parenting style. Oral prophylaxis was performed for the children and their behavior was assessed using Frankl behavior rating scale. Their caries status was recorded using DMFT/deft index.
Results: Out of 315 parents, 240 parents exhibited authoritative parenting style, 45 exhibited permissive and 30 exhibited authoritarian parenting style. Permissive parenting was associated with four-fold increase in the child's negative dental behavior and authoritarian parenting showed two-fold increase in the negative behavior of children compared to authoritative parenting. Children of both authoritative and authoritarian parents showed less caries status and the permissive parenting depicted threefold increase in the caries status compared to authoritative parenting.
Conclusion: Children of both the permissive and authoritarian parents showed more negative dental behavior than children of authoritative parents. Children of permissive parents showed increased caries status compared to the children of authoritative parents.