Abstract

To maintain a good oral hygiene, both the parent and the child must work together. It is seen that poor attitude of parents generally reflect as a poor oral health in children and vice versa. Mother’s oral hygiene knowledge and attitude influence oral hygiene of their children at an early age. The parents with proper oral hygiene knowledge and attitude are likely to positively influence their children’s oral hygiene. Aims: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding oral hygiene of children (3-5 years) among mothers. Settings and Design: The study was conducted in Paediatric OPD of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. Descriptive design was used in the study. Methods and Material: A descriptive research design was used for present study. Convenience sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 mothers. Structured questionnaire to assess knowledge, Likert scale to find out attitude and checklist to assess the practices were used as tools. Statistical analysis used: The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between the variables and ANOVA test was used to find out the association between variables. Results: The findings of present study revealed that 64% mothers had average knowledge regarding oral hygiene of children. 87% mothers have favourable attitude and 97% had satisfactory level of practices regarding oral hygiene of their children. The study reveals that there is positive correlation of knowledge with attitude and practices regarding oral hygiene among mother of children (3-5) years. Conclusions: It is concluded that majority of mothers exhibited favourable attitude and satisfactory level of practices and have less knowledge regarding oral hygiene of children.

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