Assessment of the Mothers’ Knowledge in Oral Prevention

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the mothers' knowledge in oral prevention. Our secondary objective was to know if there was a particular category of parents to better inform. We also aimed to evaluate the role of the dentist in prevention according to mothers and future mothers. Methods: The sample included 160 women aged between 16 and 48 years and hospitalized at the center of maternity and neonatology, Tunis. The evaluation was carried out by a questionnaire divided into 3 parts. The first part included design information, the second and third part included 19 questions that assess knowledge of women in oral prevention. The answers were evaluated following different recommendations. Anova test was used to analyze the correlation between mothers profile and knowledge. Entry and data analysis were done by SPSS statistics software 22. Results: Twelve questions were about the schematics of Keyes and got seven correct answers. Three questions focused on the transmission of caries and we got for the majority two correct answers. The majority of mothers gave wrong answers about the role of the dentist. Mothers are aware about effects of thumb sucking. Indeed, one question was asked and we got 80.64% of the answers correct. Conclusion: The overall average mark is 9.05 correct answers out of 19. This confirms that the level knowledge of Tunisian mothers in oral dental prevention remains inadequate. The evaluation of knowledge shows that the best answers was in brushing and transmission of carious disease. There were significant and positive correlations between mothers' educational level, occupations, socio-economic level and the average marks.