The awareness of parents of 7-8 years-old children in Kerman about presence of the first permanent molar and concepts of preventive dentistry and effect of education on level of parent's awareness

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The first permanent molar is the first permanent tooth that erupted in 6-7-year-old and is very high risk for caries. Parent’s awareness has very important role in oral and dental health of children. The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of parents of 7-8-year-old children in Kerman about presence of the first permanent molar and concepts of preventive dentistry and the relation between parents’ awareness and the decay, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) of children’s first permanent molar tooth and effect of education on level of parent’s awareness. METHODS: In this community based and interventional study, 296 students at the age of 7-8-year-old were selected randomly from public and private schools of Kerman. A questionnaire was completed by the parents that included parent’s awareness about presence of first permanent molar, oral and dental hygiene principals, and preventive methods. Then, the students were examined and the DMFT of first permanent molar were recorded and educational pamphlets have distributed between parents. The same questionnaire was completed by parents after 3 weeks. The data were analyzed by paired t-test and linear regression. RESULTS: The mean of DMFT of the first permanent molar in female students was 1.64 ± 11.43 and male students were 1.51 ± 1.54. The mean scores of related to parent’s awareness before and after education were 12.06 and 15.13, respectively, which was statistically significant (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: There were no statistical significant different between parent’s awareness and DMFT of first permanent molar. The level of parent’s awareness was increased significantly after education (P < 0.05).