Oral health knowledge, awareness and associated practices of pre-school children's mothers in Greater Noida, India.
To assess the oral health knowledge, awareness and associated exercised practices of pre-school children's mothers in Greater Noida, India.



The sampling frame for this study was chosen via convenient sampling. It comprised 598 mothers of children aged between 2 and 5 years, attending the paediatrics division of a government and four private hospitals in Greater Noida. A pre-tested questionnaire was distributed to the participants which comprised questions on the participant's sociodemographic characteristics and 23 statements regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices towards their child's oral health. Data were analysed using SPSS 21.0. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.



The study showed that merely 24.9% of the participating mothers had good knowledge and 29.1% and 12.5% exhibited poor attitude and practices, respectively, towards their child's oral health. Knowledge about the role of fluorides, causes and prevention of dental caries, gum disease, malocclusion, appropriate timing of commencing of toothbrushing and importance of frequent dental visit was found to be inadequate among the participants. The knowledge varied significantly with respect to age (P = 0.04), education (P = 0.00) and working status (P = 0.006) of the mothers.



The study participants exhibited poor knowledge and attitude towards their child's oral heath which was leading to the adoption of poor oral health practices by these mothers. Thus, to improve the oral health of children, appropriate practices and measures should be promoted among their parents/guardians.
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Priyanka
P
Sehrawat
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
K K
KK
Shivlingesh
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Bhuvandeep
B
Gupta
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Richa
R
Anand
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abhinav
A
Sharma
Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Monica
M
Chaudhry
D001294:Attitude to Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D009035:Mothers; D009549:Nigeria; D009909:Oral Health