Knowledge and attitude on infant oral health among graduating medical students in Kerala

Abstract

Providing dental and oral health care to all children in Kerala remains a thorny challenge. Lack of community water fluoridation, dental workforce shortages and geographical barriers all aggravate oral health and access problems. Children from low-income and minority families and children with special needs are at particular risk. Family centered disease prevention strategies are needed to reduce oral health disparities in children. Oral health promotion can take place in a primary care practitioner's office, but medical providers often lack relevant training. Present study was conducted to evaluate knowledge and attitude of graduating medical students towards infant oral health qualitative methods were used to evaluate the program.

Paediatric Oral Health – Perceptions of Paediatricians in Urban Vijayawada, India.

“…8 It is surprising to know that 88% of the study group believed that fluoride supplements and sealants have a role in prevention of dental caries. Some studies concur with our study 2,7 but for one that claims paediatricians prefer normal dentifrice than a fluoridated one. 10 The understanding among the paediatricians in our study about nocturnal feeding practices as a cause for early dental decay is more (88%) when compared to a study by Kumari et al (63.5%) 2 but almost similar to the findings reported by Bhat et al (91.6%).…”

“…Some studies concur with our study 2,7 but for one that claims paediatricians prefer normal dentifrice than a fluoridated one. 10 The understanding among the paediatricians in our study about nocturnal feeding practices as a cause for early dental decay is more (88%) when compared to a study by Kumari et al (63.5%) 2 but almost similar to the findings reported by Bhat et al (91.6%). 9 Majority of the respondents (92%) agreed that systemic diseases influence the oral health of an individual.…”

“…1 Although the professional bodies of Paediatric Dentistry insist on the child to have first dental visit by the time the first tooth erupts into the oral cavity and to have regular visits thereafter, the reality is far different in developing countries like India especially for children in low socio economic strata. 2 The medical office can be considered an opportune site to reach large number of children as they pay regular visits to a medical office but not dental unless it's really in need. The medical professionals, Paediatricians and their auxiliaries in particular need to have some basic knowledge about dental disease patterns, positive attitude towards dentistry and dental specialists and the motivation to do the needful for the patients.…”

“…Most of the prior studies laid less emphasis on paediatricians actually involving in counselling children about oral hygiene practices. 2,3,7 All participants in this study group believed in emphasizing counselling about oral hygiene practices which is a heartening trend. However, 70 % of paediatricians are not directly willing to involve themselves that needs to be addressed.…”

Infant oral health care knowledge and awareness among parents in Abha city of Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

“…11 In general, only 23.35% of the participants preferred exclusive breast-feeding, which is identical with the study conducted by Ebtissam Murshid 18 to only 21.98% preferred exclusive bottle-feeding. On the question of period of breast-feeding, all participants in this study agreed not to stop demand feeding when the first tooth of their kids erupts, which is less by 6% than the results of a study conducted by Retna Kumari et al 12 This research survey shows that the overall awareness on preventive strategies about oral health care was comparatively better since 52.13% participants agreed that gum pads should be cleaned as compared to only 25% in a study done by Shivaprakash et al 8 and 32% in a study done by Retna Kumari et al 9 However, this result is unsatisfactory when compared to that of 79.4% which is reported in a study done by Bhat et al 10 As a result of this study it is found that a great majority (82.53%) of the participants agreed that ''there is a relationship between oral health and physical health of the kid in future''. In a similar study conducted at Security Forces Hospital Polyclinics in Makkah by Al-Zahrani et al states that 92.1% of the participants agreed that baby teeth are important for child's general health.…”