Assessment of Mother’s Knowledge about Infant Oral Health Care, Oral Health Status and its Impact on Child’s Oral Health: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

To carry on with any preventive procedures it is advisable to go for the approach ‘known to unknown.’Focusing on Infant Oral Health Care (IOHC) this cross- sectional study aimed at assessing the maternal knowledge regarding infant oral health care, mothers’ oral hygiene and its impact on child’s oral hygiene. The objective is to see if there is any correlation between mothers’ infant oral health knowledge and mothers’ oral hygiene status with child’s oral hygiene status. 330 Pediatric dental patients below 6 years and the mothers of these children were selected using a convenient sampling technique were considered in the study. Sperman’s correlation coefficient is used to find the correlation among various parameters. The results of the current study reveals that there is an increase in knowledge among mothers regarding oral hygiene aids, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding feeding practices, diet, oral hygiene practices, and first dental visit.The study concludes that better maternal education, better the knowledge regarding infant oral health care, and oral hygiene. Better the oral hygiene status of the mother, lesser the caries index in mother, better oral hygiene and lesser the caries prevalence seen in children.