The Influence of Maternal Factors on Children’s Oral Health: Mothers’ Age, Education Level, Toothbrushing Habit and Socioeconomic Status

Aim: This study aimed to determine the influence of maternal factors on their children’s oral health. Materials and Methods: A total of 148 individuals aged between 5 and 14 years were included in this study. The children were randomly selected from their Dental Hospital Files. The oral hygiene habits and the examinations of the children and their mothers were evaluated. Clinical examination included decayed, missing or filled permanent teeth and decayed missed filled primary tooth indices. Statistical analyses were performed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Correlations test. Results: The main finding of this study is that the mothers’ socioeconomic status significantly affects their children’s caries frequency. The caries incidence of those children whose mothers have high income was lower than those of children whose mothers have either moderate or low income. A relationship was found between the mothers’ level of education and their children’s toothbrushing habit. As the frequency of toothbrushing by the mothers increased, the frequency of toothbrushing by their children increased. It was found that as the mothers’ age increased, the caries frequency of their children decreased. Conclusion: A statistically significant result was found between the caries indices of children and the economic level of their mothers. A positive correlation between the mothers’ level of education and the frequency of toothbrushing by their children was found