Audra Janovskienė, Erika Navickaitė, Vilija Andruškevičienė, Jūratė Zūbienė, Kristina Saldūnaitė, Ingrida Vasiliauskienė
Abstract
Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate how much knowledge about children’s oral health have mothers with different socioeconomic status and then to compare knowledge levels of mothers of two different Lithuanian cities (Kaunas and Alytus). Methods. We’ve surveyed mothers living in two cities (Kaunas and Alytus), whose children are going to four different nurseries. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire of 18 questions about their socio-economic status and the care of children’s oral health. The obtained data were processed using SPSS 22 application. Mean difference p < 0,05. Results. It was found that the incidence of child preventive visits in Kaunas (84,3 percent) is significantly higher than in Alytus (67,0 percent, p < 0,05). In Kaunas, prophylactic visits are more often led by older mothers (88,6 percent, p < 0,05), in Alytus – by mothers with higher education (72,9 percent, p < 0,05). The majority of mothers with higher education believe that the first visit to the dentist should happen when the child reaches 1 year of age. Same mothers also better know how many decayed teeth has their child, and agree on the need to treat primary teeth. Preschool children of more than half mothers clean teeth twice a day, but only 48,4 percent of mothers in Alytus and 60,2 percent in Kaunas clean the teeth of their children themselves. Women with higher income and living in Alytus (47,8 percent) clean their children’s teeth themselves far more often than those who receive the minimum monthly wage or less (39,3 percent, p < 0,05). Children of more than 90 percent of mothers snack between meals, but mothers with higher education in the city of Kaunas allow snacks less often (p < 0,05). Conclusions. Mothers’ knowledge about children’s oral care is inadequate, although mothers living in a big city, older than 30 years, with higher education, with income higher than the minimum monthly salary, care about the oral health of their children more. The study has not identified a statistically significant difference between the number of family members, living space per family member and mothers knowledge about children’s oral care.
Keyword(s): Socioeconomic status; quality of life; caries; preschool children.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2017.017
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