Parental attendance at a school dental program: its impact upon the dental behavior of the children.
The Okanagan dental health team invited parents of kindergarten children to attend an educational and brush-in session of the school dental program. This included actively participating in the brush-in. In four school districts, data were compiled comparing children whose parents attending with children whose parents did not. Behavioral variables compared included dental visits, routine oral hygiene, and the use of fluoride paste and rinse at the sessions. Dental exams both a priori and a posteriori allowed an assessment of the dentition and gingival tissue of both groups. Results showed a significantly greater improvement in both the dental behavior and dental health of the children whose parents attended the session. These results give valid evidence to the advantage of involving parents in a school based dental program.
D001955:British Columbia; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003815:Dentists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010290:Parents; D012571:School Dentistry; D014099:Toothbrushing