Document Type : original article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
2
Dentist, School of Dentistry, International Campus, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
3
Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, School of Dentistry, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
10.22038/jmds.2025.25660
Abstract
Background: Mothers are the main caretakers of children's oral and dental health during childhood. They must know oral and dental health and have the correct information, especially for milk teeth. Therefore, the present study investigated mothers' oral health literacy level and its relationship with children's development.
Methods and Materials: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 195 children aged 3-6 and their mothers, referred to the pediatric dentistry department of Yazd Dental Faculty in 1403, were randomly included in the study. Mothers ' oral and dental health literacy was checked and recorded using the OHL-AQ (Oral Health Literacy-Adult Questionnaire) and dmft index, based on WHO criteria, in children through examination. Data were analyzed using SPSS25 statistical software and Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression tests. The significance level was considered to be 0.05.
Results: The average oral health literacy of mother’s was60.11±51.78 out of 100 points. The average dmft index of children was 4.06±1.35. The average of decayed teeth (d) was 2.23±1.40, filled (f) was1.05±0.86, and missing (m) was 0.77±0.86. In all four age groups, there was a positive relationship between the mothers’ oral health literacy score with dmft index, the number of decayed teeth, and the number of missing teeth, and there was a negative and significant relationship with the number of children's filled teeth (r= -0.807, P-value<0.0001). Oral health literacy and children's age were predictors of children's DMFT index (P-value<0.001).
Conclusion: In mothers with higher oral health literacy, the average dmft index, the number of decayed and missing teeth in children, and the number of filled teeth were higher.
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