Factors affecting children's oral health: perceptions among Latino parents.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to understand factors that influence the oral health-related behaviors of Latino children, as reported by their parents.


METHODS
Focus groups and in-depth interviews assessed parental perceptions, experiences, attributions, and beliefs regarding their children's oral health. Guiding questions focused on a) the participant's child dental experiences; b) the impact of dental problems on the child's daily activities, emotions, self-esteem; c) parental experiences coping with child's dental problems; and d) hygienic and dietary habits. Participants were purposively sampled from dental clinics and public schools with a high concentration of Latinos; 92 urban low-income Latino Spanish-speaking parents participated. Transcriptions of the audio files were thematically analyzed using a grounded theory approach.


RESULTS
Parents' explanations of their children's dental experiences were categorized under the following themes: caries and diet, access to dental care, migration experiences, and routines.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings revealed fundamental multilevel (i.e., individual/child, family, and community) factors that are important to consider for future interventions to reduce oral health disparities: behaviors leading to caries, parental knowledge about optimal oral health, access to sugary foods within the living environment and to fluoridated water as well as barriers to oral health care such as lack of health insurance or limited health insurance coverage, among others.
Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA. dharma_cortes@hms.harvard.edu
Dharma E
DE
Cortés
Ludmila
L
Réategui-Sharpe
Avron
A
Spiro Iii
Raul I
RI
García
D001900:Boston; D002648:Child; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D004037:Diet, Cariogenic; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005457:Fluoridation; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008404:Massachusetts; D009909:Oral Health; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population
D019422:Dietary Sucrose