Caregiver’s oral health literacy is associated with prevalence of untreated dental caries in preschool children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between oral health literacy (OHL) among caregivers and untreated dental caries among preschoolers. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 415 preschool children and their caregivers from Curitiba, Brazil. The children were examined for dental caries and dental plaque. The caregivers’ OHL was evaluated using an instrument translated and validated for Brazilian Portuguese: the Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry-30. The prevalence of children with untreated caries was 42.9% (95%CI: 38.1-47.7%). A low degree of OHL was found among 15.7% (95%CI: 12.2-19.2) of caregivers. The multivariable Poisson regression analysis indicated a higher prevalence of untreated caries among children whose caregivers had a low OHL (PR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.01-1.79), those with visible plaque (PR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.01-1.62) and those who never or only occasionally had their teeth brushed by their caregivers (PR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.16-1.91) in comparison to those without these conditions. In conclusion, a higher prevalence of untreated dental caries was found among preschool children whose caregivers had a low degree of OHL.

Is parental oral health literacy a predictor of children's oral health outcomes? Systematic review of the literature

“…After exclusion of duplicates, 1,084 investigations were screened based on title/abstract and sixty‐nine of those had their full text retrieved for analysis. Eleven studies were included in the present systematic review: nine cross‐sectional and two cohort studies (Table ). Most full‐texts were excluded due to not concerning OHL, for reporting unrelated outcomes and for not addressing outcomes in children.…”

“…The majority of studies ( n = 8) were set in the United States, whereas one investigation took place in China, one in Brazil and the other in Iran.…”

Validation for Brazilian Portuguese language of the Hong Kong Oral Health Literacy Assessment Task for Paediatric Dentistry (BOHLAT‐P)

“…Accepting that children's oral health is influenced by family characteristics, it is suggested that parental OHL level is a key family factor in this context. Previous studies have identified that children whose parents have low OHL levels have a higher prevalence of dental caries, increased dental plaque levels, and were more like to not have visited a dentist in the previous year …”

“…The majority of studies investigating the relationship between parental OHL and child oral health have relied on word‐recognition instruments . Currently, there are three instruments to evaluate OHL validated in the Brazilian Portuguese language.…”

“…10 The majority of studies investigating the relationship between parental OHL and child oral health have relied on word-recognition instruments. 3,[9][10][11] Currently, there are three instruments to evaluate OHL validated in the Brazilian Portuguese language. The Brazilian version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) 12 and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine and Dentistry (REALMD-20) 13 only evaluate one aspect of functional OHL (word recognition).…”