Changes in Parental Perceptions of Their Care of Their Children’s Oral Health From Age 1 to 4 Years

• Published in: Journal of primary care & community health Vol. 10; p. 2150132719836908
• Main Authors: Daly, Jeanette M., Levy, Steven M., Xu, Yinghui, Jackson, Richard D., Eckert, George J., Levy, Barcey T., Fontana, Margherita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2019; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude to Health; Change agents; Child, Preschool; Children; Childrens health; Dental care; Dental health; Dentists; Female; Fluorides; Health care; Humans; Infant; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mouth; Oral Health; Oral hygiene; Oral Hygiene - standards; Original Research; Parents; Parents & parenting; Perceptions; Preschool children; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teeth; Young Adult; dental health; longitudinal study; health promotion; parent perception; children; oral health care
• ISSN: 2150-1319; 2150-1327
• DOI: 10.1177/2150132719836908

Introduction: In this 3-year longitudinal study, parent/child attended 3 dental visits and in between, parents were called every 4 months and asked if their child had visited the dentist and if fluoride varnish had been applied. Methods: Objectives were to assess changes in parents’ perceptions of how well they do in taking care of their children’s teeth and/or gums across these 3 time points (at age 1, 2.5, and 4 years), assess differences in parents’ perceptions of how well they do taking care of their children’s teeth and/or gums versus taking care of their children’s medical health, and determine factors associated with parental perceptions of how well they do in taking care of the children’s teeth and/or gums longitudinally. Results: Participant pairs (1325) were enrolled and over time there was a significant improvement in parental perceptions of their job taking care of their children’s teeth and/or gums, increasing from 86% perceiving it to be excellent/very good/good at their child’s 1 year of age to 92% at child’s age 4 years. The estimated odds of parents perceiving they provided excellent/very good/good versus fair/poor care for the children’s teeth and/or gums were higher for those who cleaned and checked inside the children’s mouth and/or gums daily (odds ratio 4.74) or took their children to the dentist yearly or twice yearly (odds ratio; 2.73). Conclusions: Parents’ perceptions of the care of their children’s teeth and/or gums improved over time. Parents consistently perceived that they provided better medical care than dental care for their child.