Oral health of Polish three-year-olds and mothers' oral health-related knowledge.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the oral health of Polish three-year-olds, to investigate oral health-related knowledge, habits and educational levels of their mothers, and to determine whether mothers' health-related knowledge influenced caries severity in their children.


METHODS
A cross-sectional. nationwide oral health survey of three-year-olds was performed in 2002. Their mothers completed self-administered questionnaires.


METHODS
The oral health survey covered 1,114 three-year-olds chosen by stratified random sampling.


METHODS
Dental caries was recorded according to WHO criteria and methods. Questionnaires investigated demographic factors, mothers' and children's oral health-related habits and oral health knowledge.


RESULTS
A total of 43.8% of three-year-olds were caries-free. Mean dmft was 2.9, with the greatest component being decayed teeth (2.8). Nearly two-thirds of mothers had never taken their child to a dentist; a similar proportion declared care of the deciduous teeth to be unnecessary. Mothers' opinions concerning their children's oral health was over-optimistic. A strong interdependence was found between oral health and mothers' level of oral health-related knowledge, and between mothers' level of knowledge and their level of education.


CONCLUSIONS
The level of dental caries in Polish three-year-olds was alarmingly high, and was associated with a low level of oral health-related knowledge among mothers, suggesting an urgent need for the implementation of systematic oral health education and promotion for expectant mothers and mothers of small children.
Szatko
Franciszek
F
Department of Epidemiology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland.
Wierzbicka
Maria
M
Dybizbanska
Elzbieta
E
Struzycka
Izabela
I
Iwanicka-Frankowska
Ewa
E
D001294:Attitude to Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires