Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country

Introduction: Recent epidemiological investigations on dental health among Iranian children revealed that the issue of dental caries is prevalent. According to the dental research in Iran, the general level of dental health, especially among children, is still unsatisfactory. Mothers play a key role...

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Main Authors: Kazem Hosseinzadeh, Davoud Jamshidi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2019-01-01
Series:Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12451/32739_CE[Ra1]_F(AC_SL)_PF1(AJ_SHU)_PFA(AJ_SHU)_PN(SL).pdf
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author Kazem Hosseinzadeh
Davoud Jamshidi
author_facet Kazem Hosseinzadeh
Davoud Jamshidi
author_sort Kazem Hosseinzadeh
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Recent epidemiological investigations on dental health among Iranian children revealed that the issue of dental caries is prevalent. According to the dental research in Iran, the general level of dental health, especially among children, is still unsatisfactory. Mothers play a key role in their children’s health behaviour. Aim: To explore the mothers’ knowledge about their children’s dental health. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 mothers of children aged <6 years were enrolled in this cross-sectional study using the convenience sampling technique. A 25-item self-administered questionnaire was used for gathering data. An arbitrary cut-off score of 16 was considered satisfactory. All collected data were entered in SPSS (v. 16.0) software and analysed with descriptive tests and the chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 30.8±2.5 years. The mean knowledge score of the participants was 14.2±2.0, and the minimum score was 7.0, while the maximum score was 18.0. Most respondents (58.0%) scored unsatisfactorily at 16 or less. A statistically significant association between the total score of knowledge and demographic characteristics exists (p<0.05). Conclusion: The mothers in the present study did not demonstrate satisfactory knowledge of children’s dental health. Rural parents, especially mothers, need to be educated about their key role as a model for their children and should be encouraged to improve their children’s dental health. Further studies with larger samples are recommended.
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spelling doaj.art-4f1324285dea402db6c9720360293ed92022-12-21T23:27:54ZengJCDR Research and Publications Private LimitedJournal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research2249-782X0973-709X2019-01-01131LC01LC0310.7860/JCDR/2019/32739.12451Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing CountryKazem Hosseinzadeh0Davoud Jamshidi1Assistant Professor, Dental Carries Prevention Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.Assistant Professor, Department of Endodontic, Faculty of Dentistry, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.Introduction: Recent epidemiological investigations on dental health among Iranian children revealed that the issue of dental caries is prevalent. According to the dental research in Iran, the general level of dental health, especially among children, is still unsatisfactory. Mothers play a key role in their children’s health behaviour. Aim: To explore the mothers’ knowledge about their children’s dental health. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 mothers of children aged <6 years were enrolled in this cross-sectional study using the convenience sampling technique. A 25-item self-administered questionnaire was used for gathering data. An arbitrary cut-off score of 16 was considered satisfactory. All collected data were entered in SPSS (v. 16.0) software and analysed with descriptive tests and the chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 30.8±2.5 years. The mean knowledge score of the participants was 14.2±2.0, and the minimum score was 7.0, while the maximum score was 18.0. Most respondents (58.0%) scored unsatisfactorily at 16 or less. A statistically significant association between the total score of knowledge and demographic characteristics exists (p<0.05). Conclusion: The mothers in the present study did not demonstrate satisfactory knowledge of children’s dental health. Rural parents, especially mothers, need to be educated about their key role as a model for their children and should be encouraged to improve their children’s dental health. Further studies with larger samples are recommended.https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12451/32739_CE[Ra1]_F(AC_SL)_PF1(AJ_SHU)_PFA(AJ_SHU)_PN(SL).pdfdental caries fluorideoral healthrural parents
spellingShingle Kazem Hosseinzadeh
Davoud Jamshidi
Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
dental caries fluoride
oral health
rural parents
title Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
title_full Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
title_fullStr Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
title_full_unstemmed Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
title_short Rural Mothers’ Knowledge about Children’s Dental Health in a Developing Country
title_sort rural mothers knowledge about children s dental health in a developing country
topic dental caries fluoride
oral health
rural parents
url https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12451/32739_CE[Ra1]_F(AC_SL)_PF1(AJ_SHU)_PFA(AJ_SHU)_PN(SL).pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT kazemhosseinzadeh ruralmothersknowledgeaboutchildrensdentalhealthinadevelopingcountry
AT davoudjamshidi ruralmothersknowledgeaboutchildrensdentalhealthinadevelopingcountry