Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Parents/Caregivers

Parents usually are the primary decision makers on matters affecting their children’s health and health care (Cafferata & Kasper, 1985; Hickson & Clayton, 2002). Moreover, in everyday life, parents function as role models for their children, and therefore, parents' own dental hygiene habits are very meaningful. Parental characteristics and beliefs may also be an important consideration in attempts made to improve children’s oral health. Therefore, in attempts to achieve the best oral health outcomes for children, parents should be considered as key persons in ensuring the well-being of young children. This can improve the preventive dental care children receive at home and their use of professional dental services (Inglehart et al., 2002). In addition, appreciating their knowledge, attitude and practices about their children’s oral health may help the dental community understand some of the reasons why children do not receive the dental care they need. It is important to initiate basic good oral health habits in childhood so that the appropriate dental norms are established and then maintained into adult life. The family is the first institution that influences child behavior and development, especially mothers, who are the primary model for developing behavior (Blinkhorn, 1981). Therefore, childhood is an important period of life that needs to be monitored closely so that the child will grow up healthy. However, recent rapid social expansion in many societies creates a negative impact on child-rearing. Parents have to transfer their caring role to caregivers and may compromise the health status of young children including their oral health. This consequence is especially important for preschool children because they are totally dependent on adults. The most important negative impact to child oral health is Early Childhood Caries (ECC) (Milnes, 1996; Tinanoff & O’Sullivan 1997; Tinanoff, 1998) which may compromise growth and development of affected children (Acs et al., 1992; Ayhan et al., 1996). Several factors could contribute to a high rate of ECC (Seow, 1998; Reisine & Douglass 1998), such as parent health beliefs and attitudes towards their own dental care which is a significant predictor of children’s dental care utilization (Amen & Clarke, 2001). Sarnat et al. reported that the more positive the mother's attitude regarding her child, the fewer carious teeth were noted, the better the child's oral hygiene, and the more dental treatment the child received (Sarnat et al., 1984). Sasahara et al. showed that mothers' oral health behavior was associated with the prevalence and severity of dental caries in their children (Sasahara et al., 1998).