The relationship between oral and dental health literacy of mothers and the oral and dental health status of their children in Shahrekord in 2023

The present study was conducted in order to investigate the relationship between oral and dental health literacy of mothers and the oral and dental health status of their children.

This analytical study was conducted in 2023. The sample size was 167 mothers with 6-12-year-old children who referred to comprehensive health service centers of Shahrekord. Sampling was done in a simple random way. Data collection was done by using the standard oral and dental health literacy questionnaire of adults and oral and dental examination of children. The data collected after coding was analyzed with ANOVA and Pearson correlation tests.

The mean age of mothers participating in this study was 37.23 ± 4.99 years. The distribution of the mean score and SD of oral and dental health literacy of mothers was 66.65±15.19 and the distribution of the mean score of the number of decayed, filled and missing teeth was 2.38±1.58. There was an inverse and significant relationship between the total oral and dental health literacy score of mothers and the average number of decayed, filled and missing teeth (p=0.026 r=-0.025).. Also, there was an inverse and significant relationship between oral and dental health literacy of mothers with the number of decayed teeth (p=0.025 r=-0.032) and missing teeth (p=0.045 r=-0.045), but it did not show a significant relationship with filled teeth (p=0.229).

It is necessary to improve the oral health literacy of mothers and take care of their children's teeth, training should be planned according to the education.