A consulta odontopediátrica

: influência da literacia dos responsáveis na saúde oral das crianças

Abstract

Introduction: Insufficient knowledge about hygiene habits on the part of those responsible for the children will generate a lack of oral hygiene and habits of these same children. It is essential to inform and make parents aware of what the best habits are, both in pediatric oral hygiene and in the general health of their children. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted on 100 caregivers of pediatric dentistry patients at the University Clinic of the College Dental Medicine at Universidade Católica Portuguesa during the time between September 2021 and May 2022.The results were analyzed with SPSS version 28 for Windows. Results: In the sample we were able to obtain (79.0%) of the parents were female, aged 25-40 years old (54.0%), and had 10th-12th grade education (44%). In 80% of the cases it was the mother who answered the questionnaire. Regarding infants/children, the majority were female (58%) and over 6 years old (47%). Regarding brushing, parents with higher education brushed their teeth significantly more after breakfast (p=0.018) and also brushed statistically significantly more before going to bed (p=0.008). Regarding Early Childhood Caries, only 43% of the parents know of its existence. Regarding the children's habits, a high percentage does not use a pacifier currently (90%) and more than half used one in the past (62%). Conclusion: Parents' literacy significantly impacts their oral hygiene care and that women have better oral hygiene habits than men, which is to be expected, relative to what we know from the literature.

Date of Award	19 Jul 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Mariana Seabra (Supervisor) & Andreia Sofia de Paiva Figueiredo (Co-Supervisor)