Function of the Family Unit, Oral Hygiene Rules and Attitudes to Dental Health in Children During First-Wave 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether general and dental health and habits of families were affected by the first-wave lockdown due to COVID-19, and whether these habits were related to family functioning, resilience and stress. Study design: A cross-sectional study using an online survey disseminated among families with kindergarten and primary school-aged children during the lockdown of March and April 2020. Results: A total of 361 respondents completed the survey. Most respondents adapted well to the changes imposed by lockdown and reported that they and their children had low anxiety levels and high mental resilience. Family functioning and behavior were positively correlated with nutrition habits and hygiene. General hygiene was positively correlated with oral hygiene. Respondents who reported requiring dental care had difficulties gaining access to it. Most respondents perceived that it is important to improve patients’ digital access to pediatricians and dentists during crises. Conclusion: The study showed that better family functioning was associated with better family hygiene and nutrition, parental resilience and lower mental stress among children.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on maintenance of children's dental health

“…Despite the presence of parents at home, only 3.2% through 4.2% of the children decreased their frequency of consuming snacks or healthy meals per day. Our findings are in accordance with those of others researchers who have found that approximately 61% of children in kindergarten and school consumed more snacks during the lockdown, 4,6 and only 4.6% of the children younger than 14 years decreased their frequency of a cariogenic diet. 5 Our finding regarding increased consumption of sugary and carbonated drinks during the pandemic is novel and important because this behavior may increase the risk of developing caries significantly.…”

“…We found that 25.1% of the children decreased their frequency of toothbrushing in the morning, evening, or both. These findings are in accordance with 2 other studies that found that 22.9% and 21.9% of children decreased their frequency of toothbrushings 4,7 However, these results are slightly better than those reported by Baptista and colleagues, 7 who found that 42.7% of the children aged 3 through 15 years changed their oral hygiene habits. The decreased frequency of toothbrushing reported in our study was greater among older children who brush their teeth by themselves (Fisher test, P ¼ .0036).…”

“…Its onset is usually during childhood, with a peak onset from 10 through 19 years and with a tendency to diminish in frequency and severity with age. 25 Although several previous studies have confirmed the relationship between emotional stress and anxiety and TMD and RAS, 4,7,17,26 to our knowledge, no study has evaluated the possible oral manifestation of the lockdown-related stress via onset of TMD or RAS.…”

“…5,7 Moreover, few of the studies included adolescents and concentrated on limited ranges of ages (3-6 years, 0-12 years, < 14 years, 6-12 years, or 3-15 years) and thus could not assess the effect of age on these changes. [4][5][6][7]13,14 An additional issue in regard to the lockdown and staying at home to prevent spreading the disease is increase in emotional stress of the children, 4,7,15,16 which concomitantly could have been expressed orally via temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) or recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). TMD affects the function of the temporomandibular joint along with the muscles of mastication.…”

How Have Recent Pandemics Affected Oral Health: A Systematic Review using Narrative Synthesis of the Literature from 2011-2021

“…The establishment of routines may go some way to explain the results of [22] who demonstrated that parental presence during periods of home working during the COVID-19 lockdowns improved the oral health of their children due to the increased time spent building a stable and positive relationship, this, in turn, improved the child's collaboration with their oral health professional during appointments. Interestingly, this result was supported in studies of children in Brazil, and in the U.S [23] that posited improved social capital during the pandemic as children stayed at home with their families and experienced feelings of protection and belonging leading to improved OHRQoL [14].…”