The comparison of oral healthcare behaviors and dental health status among preschool childrens ’ parents with and without continuous visiting Well Child Dental Clinic, Lomsak hospital, Phetchabun province

Abstract

         The objectives of  this cross-sectional study were  (1) to compare oral healthcare behaviors  of children’ s  parents including oral care, snack  choosing, milk consumption, and dental clinic attendance and (2) to compare the rates of dental caries and  plaque formations among preschoolers  with  continuous and non- continuous attendance  at the Well Child Dental clinic in Lomsak hospital, Phetchabun province .  The research was conducted among 203 preschool children using the systematic random sampling method. The age of children ranged from 3.5 to 4 years old, attending the Well Child Dental Clinic when they were 9 months old. Data were collected from January to  October 2013at  Lomsak hospital. Data were collected using the forms for oral examination and oral hygiene checking. The questionnaire with the reliability of 0.821 was also used. Statistics used for data analysis were descriptive statistics and independent t-test.   The findings showed that: (1) parents of the children who continuously  attended the Well Child  Dental Clinic had significantly higher average scores of behaviors for  children’s oral care and examination ,snack choosing ,milk consumption, and dental clinic attendance  than those who did not  (p=0.05) and (2) the rates of  dental  caries  and  plaque  formations  among  the  preschoolers  who regularly attended the Well Child Dental  Clinic  were  significantly  lower than those with  non-regular dental clinic  attendance (p=0.05).;