Relationship between dental caries and parental oral hygienic knowledge in a community of Shanghai

ObjectiveTo investigate the caries status of deciduous teeth in three-year-old children in Nanqiao Community Fengxian District Shanghai, and to analyze the relation between the parents′ awareness of oral hygienic knowledge and the occurrence of dental caries.

MethodsIn 2017, 1 029 three-year old children in a community were examined for oral health and a survey on the parents′ awareness of risk factors of dental caries was conducted by questionnaires.

ResultsThe 3-year old children′s dental caries rate in Nanqiao community is 38.0%.The overall parents′ awareness rate of oral hygiene knowledge was 55.69%.For parents with high awareness of oral hygienic knowledge, their children′s dental caries rate is low.Compared the prevalence of caries among children with different feeding patterns, the dental caries rate in breast-fed children is lower than that of mixed and artificial feeding children.

ConclusionWe should vigorously publicize the advantages of breast-feeding, improve the rate of breast-feeding, carry out various forms of health education, foster parents to grasp scientific and effective oral hygiene knowledge, and reduce the prevalence of dental caries in children so then.