title: Wanting better: a qualitative study of low-income parents about their children's oral health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Using qualitative methods, the purpose of this study was to understand low-income parents' experiences and how these influenced their oral health-related behavior toward their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight parents were recruited from 7 sites that serve low-income families. Interviews, which were audiotaped and transcribed, were comprised of mostly open-ended questions. Transcripts were analyzed for common themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents' experiences influenced their oral health-related beliefs, intentions, and behaviors. Finding dentists who accept Medicaid was the greatest barrier to realizing intended preventive dental care. Physicians appeared to have relatively little impact on these families' oral health care, even though parents believed that oral health is part of overall health care. WIC (the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) played an important role in facilitating oral health knowledge and access to dental care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most low-income parents had received little attention to their own oral health, yet wanted better for their children. This motivated the high value placed on their children's preventive oral health. Parents faced challenges finding dental care for their children. Difficulty finding a regular source of dental care for low-income adults, however, was nearly universal. The authors identified strategies, which emerged from their interviews, to improve the oral health knowledge and dental care access for these low-income families.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Washington Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics, University of Washington Child Health Institute, Seattle, USA. cwlewis@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Charlotte W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Kristi A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Linsenmayer
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000523:psychology*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D009909:Oral Health; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D011313:Preventive Dentistry; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States