Oral Health Awareness Among Parents Visiting A Dental College In Chennai

Abstract

Dental Services Can Be Defined As An Annual Number Of Dental Visits Per Person Or The Proportion Of A Person's Visit To A Dentist Within A Year. The Given Information Will Help In Planning And Implementing The Oral Health Care Services In A Given Community Area. The Aim Of This Study Was To Assess  Oral Health Awareness Among Parents Of Pediatric Outpatients

Materials And Method

This Cross-Sectional Study Was Conducted Among The Parents Of Pediatric Outpatients. It Was A Questionnaire Based Study. The Survey Was Conducted Among 100 Parents. Data Was Entered And Analyzed Using Spss. The Results Were Tabulated In The Form Of Pie Charts And Associative Graphs. Descriptive Statistics And Chi Square Test Were Done To Analyse The Collected Data.

Result

About 95% Of Respondents Have Visited The Dentist Recently And The Rest Haven’t. About 93 % Of The Respondents Have Rated Their Child’s Oral Health To Be Excellent And The Rest Have Rated It To Be Very Good. About 73% Of The Participants Responded That Bacteria Can Cause Dental Caries. Female Study Participants Were More Aware About The Role Of Bacteria In Dental Caries Causation When Compared With Male Study Participants (P Value - 0.03). About 70% Of The Participants Responded That There Is No Need To Treat Primary Teeth. Study Participants In The Age Group Of 36-55 Yrs Were More Aware About The Importance Of Primary Teeth When Compared With Participants In Other Age Groups ( P Value - 0.000).

Conclusion

Dental Care Services Utilization Of Children Was Good. Awareness About Oral Health Was Poor Among The Study Participants, However Awareness Was High Among Educated Parents When Compared With Uneducated Parents And Participants In The Age Group Of 36-55 Yrs.