Exploration of the relationship between parent/guardian sociodemographics, intention, and knowledge and the oral health status of their children/wards enrolled in a Central Florida Head Start Program

Objective The purpose of this study was to identify possible relationships between parent/guardian sociodemographics, intention, knowledge, and the oral health status of their child/ward. Intention includes three factors as defined in the Theory of Planned Behavior: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control, and oral health status was measured by decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) scores. Methods A convenience sample of parent/guardian with child/ward with age of three to five (n = 181 dyads) enrolled in a Head Start program in the state of Florida participated. A cross‐sectional observational study comprised of two components, parent/guardian questionnaire and an oral health status form for recording dmft scores of participating child/ward was employed. Results Parent/guardian race/ethnicity and years of education were significantly related to dmft of child/ward. The highest rates of severe early childhood caries (ECC) were found in child/ward whose parent/guardian is Hispanic and parent/guardian with less than a high school education. Multivariate regression analysis found that increased education level of parent/guardian was significantly associated with lower dmft in this population. No significant relationship was found between parent/guardian self‐reported intention (attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control), knowledge and dmft scores of the child/ward. Conclusion Researchers have called for greater attention to the impact of parental influences in the aetiology of ECC. Results from this study were consistent with current studies where parent/guardian race/ethnicity and educational level served as predictors of oral health status of children. In this study population, parent/guardian intention and knowledge were not shown to significantly impact the oral health status of their child/ward.