Assessment of attitudes and practices regarding oral healthcare among the parents during the war

Abstract

This study aimed to assess parents' attitudes and practices concerning their children's oral healthcare, dietary habits, and dental care during the war. The study was conducted with a sample of 375 parents of children aged 4-7 years selected randomly from public schools, kindergartens, and the pediatric public dental clinic after obtaining informed consent. A questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes and practices of parents toward their child's dietary habits, oral hygiene measures, and dental information during the war. Most of the parents had satisfactory knowledge and positive attitudes regarding their children's oral health. The internally displaced children experienced more dental problems (P= .02) and consumed more food (P= .008) than the local population. The parents with university education and professional occupations were more involved in supervising their children tooth brushing (P= .0001). 57.07% of children brush their teeth once a day. 47.47% of parents supervised their child's oral hygiene, and 47.73% needed more time to implement additional oral hygiene measures. The surveyed Ukrainian parents displayed satisfactory attitudes and practices towards oral health, but they lack awareness of their children`s oral hygiene measures, which could be related to the inconveniences faced both by parents and children during wartime.