Association between parental oral health literacy and children’s oral health status

Abstract

Oral health literacy (OHL) is the degreeto which individuals have the capacityto obtain and process basic oralhealth information and services needed to make appropriatehealth decisions. There is limited evidence evaluatingthe association between OHL and oral health status.This research is conducted with the aim to assessthe parental Oral Health Literacy (OHL) and its associationwith the oral health status of preschool children inKuantan area.Ethical approval is obtained prior to starting the study(IREC 766). A total of 200 sample of parent/child dyadsthat consented to participate are recruited from kindergartensaround Kuantan. Inter- and intra-examinercalibration were performed prior to starting the clinicalexamination. Parental OHL level are assessed usingREALD-99 tools and their demographic informationwere recorded. Clinical examination was performed by2 calibrated examiners on the children to assess theiroral health status using two parameters; dental cariesexperience (dmft) and oral hygiene status (visibleplaque index).Mean for dmft and VPI are 6.24 and 70.39%, respectively.Negative correlation is obtained between parentalOHL and the oral health status of children indicatingthat when parental OHL level increases, the total dmftand VPI decreases (p<0.05). Lower dmft and VPI scorewere also observed among preschool children of parentsin group with high parental OHL (p<0.05).There is significant association between parental OHLand children’s oral health status of preschool childrenin Kuantan, with higher parental OHL score associatedwith better children’s oral health.