Payesh (Feb 2023)
Oral health literacy of mothers and its relationship to oral health status of their 3-6 years-old children
Abstract
Objective (s): This study aimed was to determine the oral health literacy of mothers and its relationship to oral health status of their 3–6-year-old children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional. A sample of 194 mothers with children aged 3 to 6 years who referred to two comprehensive health service centers in Kabudarahang, Hamadan Province, Iran in 2019 were studied. The oral health literacy of mothers was assessed by the adult oral health literacy questionnaire. The oral health of children was identified by examining and recording the number of decayed, missed and filled teeth. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21) and by one-way analysis of variance Pearson correlation coefficient tests. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 32.38 years (SD=6.095). The mean oral health literacy score of the mothers was 46.66 (SD= 21.895) and the total average number of decayed, missed and filled teeth of their children was 3.840 (SD= 1.424). There was an inverse and significant relationship between mothers' oral health literacy and the total number of decayed, missed and filled teeth in their children's (p=0.007). The average number of missing teeth of the children was equal to 0.54 (SD=1.364), the average number of decayed teeth was 3.11 (SD=3.189), and the average number of filled teeth was 0.19 (SD=0.750). The results showed that mothers' oral health literacy had a direct and significant relationship with their educational levels (p=0.001). Conclusion: There was a significant relationship between mothers' oral health literacy and their children's oral health status. It seems that planning to increasing oral health literacy of mothers in order to improve children's oral health is essential.
