The association between children’s oral health behaviors, parents’ oral health knowledge and parents’ education level: a survey of 8446 families in Wuhan

Abstract

Background: Children aged 6-7 years are in the early mixed dentition, which is a period of high prevalence of dental caries and other dental diseases, and a critical period for the formation of oral health behaviors. Therefore, good oral hygiene habits of children and oral health knowledge of parents are very important. This study sought to explore the relationship between children’s oral health behaviors, parental oral health knowledge, parental choices of pit and fissure sealants, and parents’ education levels based on a large scale sample size for the first time, and to compare the influence between parents. Methods: In this study, the families of the first and second graders of primary schools in Wuhan Hongshan District were selected as subjects. A total of 8446 questionnaires were collected to obtain comprehensive information on children’s oral health behaviors, parents’ oral health knowledge and parents’ pit and fissure sealants related choices. The relationship between these and parents’ education levels were studied through logistic regression analysis and chi-square test. Results: Families of parents who reported good education background had better children’s oral health behaviors and more favorable parents’ oral health knowledge than those of other parents. Four indicators of the children’s oral health behaviors were significantly affected by mother’s education levels, and three of them were correlated with the father’s. Moreover, seven indicators of the parents’ oral health knowledge were significantly related to mother’s education levels and four of them were affected by the father’s. In addition, parents with higher education attainment paid more attention to the quality of equipment, the professionalism of doctors, the proximity of the location, and paid less attention to the willingness and cooperation degree of children when choosing the pit and fissure sealants location. Conclusions: In the families of children with early mixed dentition, parents with higher education pose better oral health knowledge and have more for oral health care needs, such as pit and fissure sealants. As a result, their children tend to perform better on oral hygiene practices. Key words: Pit and fissure sealants, Education level, Mixed dentition, Oral health behavior, Oral health knowledge