Revista Cubana de Estomatología (Dec 2014)
Qualitative estimation of the weight of dental cream in children: a valid and reliable instrument
Abstract
Introduction: It has been necessary to perform population studies where indicated the amount of toothpaste used in brushing quickly and easily in the control of the fluorosis, considering that the amount of toothpaste is an important factor to identify the possible factors associated with fluorosis. Objectives: Designing a qualitative tool to estimate the weight of toothpaste used by children between 2 and 6 years during brushing and describe the use and management of children's toothpaste. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was made; the sample consisted of the total number of children who attended the clinic for 6 months (N = 143), it was evaluated sociodemographic variables and the toothpaste handling. The parents or children were asked to dispense the normal among of toothpaste in the toothbrush, the weight was determined, and then they had to select one of the 4 figures of the toothbrush with toothpaste in a diagram. Results: The mean of age was 4, 8 years. The 76, 9% of the parents don’t know the proper amount of tooth paste that they should use. The average of toothpaste weight was 0,514 g ± 0,27g, the selected weight estimation model was statistically significant (p=0.000). The toothpaste weight estimation through diagram represents in the 31% of the cases with the real amount of tooth paste used. Conclusions: Children use twice the amount of recommended toothpaste. The graphic diagrams with 4 toothbrushes with different toothpaste amounts is considered a good measurement tool to estimate the real amount of tooth paste used by risk aged children, with statistical correlation.
