Abstract

FERREIRA, Jainara Maria Soares et al. Parents' practices regarding the oral hygiene and diet of preschoolers attending public schools. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2011, vol.59, n.2, pp. 265-270. ISSN 1981-8637.

Objective To assess the practices of parents - responsible for preschoolers regarding the oral hygiene and diet of preschool children aged 2 to 5 years attending public schools in Joao Pessoa. Methods This was an observational, descriptive study. The sample was stratified and proportional to the number of political and administrative districts of João Pessoa (n = 391). An objective questionnaire was used to collect data, which were then processed by descriptive statistics. Results Most interviewees (70.1%) reported that their main source of information on children's oral hygiene was the dentist (55.8%). Regarding diet, 66.0% of the children consumed a cariogenic diet, 11.8% were breastfed and 47.8% were bottle-fed. Almost all the children had a toothbrush (99.2%) and toothpaste (96.4%) and 97.7% of the caregivers cleaned their children's mouths, usually with a toothbrush and toothpaste (79.1%). The parents were normally the ones who brushed the children's teeth (76.2%). Most (63.4%) participants reported starting to brush their children's teeth before the child's first birthday and only 27.9% covered less than half the bristles of the brush at this time. Conclusion Ongoing education programs on diet-related risk of caries and risk of dental fluorosis secondary to fluoridated toothpaste need to be implemented

Keywords : Health education dental; Pediatric dentistry; Child preschool.