Parental perception of oral health status of children in mainstream and special education classrooms.
The aim of this study was to compare parental perceptions of oral health status and access to dental services by children in 34 special education and 16 mainstream public elementary school classes in San Mateo County, California. A self-administered parental survey was utilized and included questions about demographics, oral health, and dental utilization. The overall response rate was 58.8%. After adjusting for age and gender of the child, compared to mainstream, parents of students in special education classes were significantly more likely to report their children to have worse oral health (OR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.54, 3.67), be lacking a past year dental visit (OR = 1.96, 95% CI 1.01, 3.84), and have missed school days due to dental reasons (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.55, 4.17). Both groups rated their children's oral health inferior to the overall health rating (p < .001). The authors concluded that disparities exist between the two groups in parental perceptions of their children's oral health status and dental service utilization.
Butani
Yogita
Y
Resident, Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Health University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry, California, USA. butani.yogita@gmail.com
Gansky
Stuart A
SA
Weintraub
Jane A
JA
D000041:Absenteeism; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D004519:Education, Special; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008282:Mainstreaming, Education; D008297:Male; D008483:Medical Assistance; D009909:Oral Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014081:Tooth Extraction