What Do Mothers (or Caregivers) Know about Their Children’s Oral Hygiene? An Update of the Current Evidence

Abstract

Tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases in children, although it is a preventable injury and despite significant advances that has been made in terms of attention and care for oral hygiene. Several studies have shown the association between prevalence of tooth decay in children and parents’ incorrect oral care habits, with a low educational level and a low socioeconomic background. The question that arises concerns the actual oral hygiene knowledge of mothers, fathers, family members or caregivers of young patients; therefore, the aim of this review is to investigate the genesis of gaps in the topic. A literature search was conducted through the Scopus and PubMed search engine and ended in May 2022; only studies from the past 20 years were included. Current evidence suggests that parents and caregivers still have little knowledge about their children’s oral health: there is not enough awareness about the importance of preventing oral diseases, due to poor attention to good oral hygiene but also lack of information from health professionals and institutions. In the future, all the professionals involved in the pregnant woman’s care should increase parents’ knowledge, solve their doubts, collect and compare data in order to design effective intervention programs.

Association of Maternal Sense of Coherence With Oral Health Behavior of Children With Special Health Care Needs: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The final section of questions on children's oral health behavior consisted of the following five questions: one question on oral hygiene, two questions on diet, and two questions on dental attendance and utilization. Mothers do serve as a reliable source to seek out the oral health behavior of children, as substantiated by previous literature [13]. Response to questions on oral health behavior was the dependent variable in the study.…”

“…Mothers' sense of coherence has been shown to have a bearing on the oral health behavior and quality of life of the children. Even though the limitation of such studies is that they are self-reported, it is still a reliable way to analyze, as assessed and recommended by previous studies [11,13,27].…”

Oral findings and comprehensive dental management of Moebius syndrome: a systematic review

“…The present study treated patients by scaling and root planing, prophylaxis, education, and oral hygiene instructions, significantly improving periodontal health. Future studies would be advisable to determine the composition of the periodontal microbiota in these patients, to know the cytokine profile involved in the immune response and to compare it with healthy patients, as well as to study some genetic variants that could be risk factors or genetic protectors against the development of periodontal disease [ 55 , 56 ]. .…”

Polish pregnant women’s knowledge on early childhood caries prevention and oral hygiene in children

“…According to the recommendations of the American Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (AAPD) and the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD), the role of caregivers is to assist and perform good oral hygiene practices in children under the age of six [ 12 ]. However, the percentage of caregivers who do not supervise and assist their children during brushing is very high [ 13 ]. It has been observed that mothers have a key role in shaping good oral hygiene practices in children [ 14 ].…”

“…The more importance mothers attach to their own oral hygiene, the higher the frequency of brushing in their children [ 15 ]. As research shows, many mothers-to-be lack sufficient knowledge of the risk factors and importance of ECC prevention, due to, for example, inappropriate attitudes toward oral hygiene and lack of institutional support, as well as insufficient information from health professionals [ 13 ].…”