Impact of Mother's Oral Health Literacy on Preschool Children's Oral Health Status and Behavior

Kang, Yu Min; Cho, Young Sik

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how oral health literacy of mothers affect the oral health status of their preschool children. The subjects were 233 mothers and their preschool children who are between 5 and 6 years old. They were selected according to the convenience sampling method. The individual self-administered questionnaire was used for the mother's survey while the children were interviewed using structured questionnaire to examine their oral health status and behavior. According to study results, the number of decayed primary teeth and the number of decayed and filled primary teeth had a statistically significant negative correlation with the oral health literacy of the mother, the children's oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior (COHKAB), and the mother's oral health management behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed after including general characteristics variables, the COHKAB and the mother's oral health management behavior. Meanwhile, mother's oral health literacy had a statistically influence on children's oral health status. The higher the mother's oral health literacy level, the lower the number of decayed and filled primary teeth were. The findings suggest that efforts to improve the oral health status of preschool children should consider mother's oral health literacy as an important factor. Therefore, the effective intervention and education programs are necessary to enhance mother's oral health literacy.