Parent's Perception and Attitudes Towards Brushing Their Children's Teeth

Abstract

Objective: This study was aimed to assess parental perception and attitudes regarding dietary and oral hygiene habits of their children. Study Design: Questionnaire Based Survey Place and Duration of Study: Parents of children who visited a tertiary care dental hospital in Peshawar over a period of 1 year (July 2019 to June 2020) were encompassed in this study. Materials and Methods: Parents of 352 children aged 1-6 years visiting a tertiary care hospital were asked to fill a questionnaire with Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior consisting of standard questions about intention, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, indulgence, maternal oral health behavior and dietary habits and scored on Likert's Scale. Results: Out of 352 interviewed, parents showed average attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PCB) with mean scores of 4.61, 5.54,7.89 respectively.72.44% of the study sample confirmed weak intentions towards brushing their child's teeth. General multivariate regression model analysis revealed a significant correlation of attitudes, subjective norms, and PCB towards intention. However, strong intenders showed weak indulgence (mean 5.05). 87% of the parents were not accustomed with the fact that nighttime breastfeeding can cause caries. Conclusion: Parents showed weak perception and intentions towards brushing their children's teeth twice daily which might endure a negative impact on their child's oral health and should be addressed while designing policies concerning oral health.

Keywords

• caries, intention, indulgence, perception, subjective norms.