Awareness and attitude of Saudi parents towards pulp therapy of the primary teeth: survey based study

Abstract

Background: Some parents believe that it’s not worth to treat and spend money on this tooth because they will shed after all. Many of them are not aware that primary dentition should be maintained in the dental arch in a healthy state for the overall health of the child.Methods: The survey included questions related to demographics, such as gender and educational level. Further investigative questions included the need of pulp therapy in primary teeth, knowledge about pulp treatment, importance of pulp treatment, number of dental visits, reason of dental visit, filling of carious tooth and preference of pulp therapy.Results: The total number of questionnaires filled by participants was n=736. Out of which, 104 (14%) were males and 632 (86%) females. As far as the educational levels were concerned, 81 (11%) had completed primary school, 110 (15%) had completed high school and 545 (74%) were graduates from university.Conclusions: Overall there was no statistically significant difference between the subgroups of gender and educational level.

Knowledge, awareness and attitude of parents on pulp therapy of primary teeth: A questionnaire study

“…The better the parents' attitude and proper knowledge of oral health, the more beneficial it will be for the children's health. 4,5 Some parents think that primary teeth will be replaced by permanent ones and do not need to be treated. 6 They are not aware that even primary teeth may require pulp treatment, and they do not understand how important they are to their child's health.…”