Oral health knowledge, attitude and practices by parents of the children attending KSUCD clinics

The objective of the present study was to determine the oral health knowledge, attitude and practices of the parents of children attending the King Saud University College of Dentistry (KSUCD) Clinics in Riyadh. The information about the parents' oral health knowledge, attitude and practices was collected through a specially designed self-administered questionnaire. A total of 73 parents, 54 (74.0%) fathers and 19 (26.0%) mothers completed the questionnaire. Almost all (98.6%) the parents thought that good dental health was important for optimal general health and that routine check-up dental visits help in maintaining good dental health. While six in every ten (60.3%) parents thought that teeth should be cleaned three times daily, only four in ten (41.1 %) parents actually brushed thrice daily. Majority of the parents understood the main causes of dental caries such as poor oral hygiene (93.2%) and high sugar intake (84.9%), but more than one-fourth. (28.8%) did not think the frequent intake of soft drinks as a caries risk factor. A majority (82.2%) of parents claimed that they observed their children's diet (82.2%) and dental health (78.1%). About one-fourth (24.0%) of the parents responded that they did not spend time with their children about how to maintain good dental health. It can be concluded that the parents' knowledge about oral health is generally satisfactory with some exceptions and the attitude towards oral health is positive. But, there are shortcomings in the area of preventive practices.King Saud Universit