Abstract

Background: Dental carries is transmissible infectious disease and mother is the major primary source of infection for their children.
Aims & Objective: To assess knowledge and practice of mothers of under-five children regarding dental caries.

Material and Methods: 140 mothers having < 5 years old children selected through simple random sampling were interviewed using semi-structured schedule to assess the knowledge of oral health to prevent dental caries.

Results: In the survey, 73.5% mothers knew about avoiding consumption of sweets/sweet fast foods/sugar beverages. A larger proportion of literate mothers were aware of regular cleaning of mouth, necessity of cleaning mouth after each feeding, sweets / sweet fast food & unclean mouth causes caries (p>0.05). They offers sweet/sweet fast food / sugar beverages more frequently, use toothpaste and brush for cleaning mouth for their children’s (p=0.010, p=0.008). A larger proportion of mothers who had an income > 3000 `/month were aware of sweets / sweet fast food & unclean mouth causes caries, necessity of regular cleaning after each feeding (p>0.05). But in spite of greater awareness of mothers a significantly lesser proportion of their children used toothpaste while brushing, do self-brushing and assisted brushing (p=00.007, 0.025, 0.022). An age group of >24 years and income > 3000 `/month were the predictors of good oral hygiene practice by mothers.

Conclusion: Mothers of the study area had basic knowledge of caries prevention. However, their theoretical knowledge has been not fully reflected in the way they cared for their children's teeth.

Key words: Knowledge; Practice; Mothers; Oral Hygiene; Caries Prevention; Under-Five Children