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Subject Area

Neuropsychiatry

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Background Evaluation of parental knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding dental hygiene is an important tool which projects parent's outlook toward oral health of their children. Proper dental hygiene prevents dental caries and allows early detection for any abnormality in earlier stages. Objective The aim was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers regarding oral health and its effect on their children's dental health status. Patients and methods This is a cross-sectional study of a random sample of 392 primary school children and their mothers. The children were selected randomly from two primary schools randomly selected from Shebeen El-Kom district's primary schools and proportionally allocated according to the total number of children in each school. A predesigned questionnaire was used to assess mother's knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding their child's oral hygiene. Results Good knowledge of proper oral hygiene was represented by 88.5% of the studied group. Approximately 70% of the studied group had positive attitude toward proper oral hygiene, and 52.3% had satisfactory level of oral hygiene practice. The study shows a statistical significant difference of mothers' good knowledge level and their education, occupation, and socioeconomic status. Proper knowledge and practice regarding oral hygiene statistically significantly increase the absence of decayed or filled teeth. Conclusion Good knowledge, positive attitude, and satisfactory practice of mothers regarding child's oral hygiene affect dental health status of the studied children.

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